Filtering ???

[coriasco]

I have read many articles on filtering and I am still confused ? Some say it is good to filter wine but others say it takes some color and flavor out of red wine. This is my 2nd year of winemaking but I have made 5 gallons of Merlot and 6 gallons of White Zinfandel last year (by the way came out excellent) made the wine from fresh juice from California. This past May made juice from Chile, 24 gallons of Merlot & 6 gallons of Chardonnay (the Chardonnay I cleared with Bentonite & it came very clear), those wines are also excellent (many compliments so far). I now have 24 gallons of Merlot 12 gallons of White Zinfandel 6 gallons of Chardonnay (all from California juice) and 6 gallons of Amerone (juice from Italy).

So far all the Chilean wines I have openeddo not have one trace of sediment in the bottles (bulked aged for 5 months prior to bottling). The California juicesthat I started in Sept 08 I have racked twice so for andare pretty clear as is the Amerone. Does anyone recommend that I buy a filtration system and if so which one do you recommend?


Thank You

 

[grapeman]

It sounds to me like you are satisfied with the clarity of your wines. If you were to filter, would you be any more satisfied? Save your money unless you start having problems with clearing. That usually happens when people try to rush bottling instead of aging and racking.


That's just my opinion though and others like filtering.

 

[Wade E]

I typically only filter a white wine that i want to look polished and most of the time I dont need to use it. There have been 1 or 2 times that I have racked off lees into clean carboy or bottling bucket to bottle and had a little mishap and just filtered instead of waiting all over again. Did see some color on the filter pad but didnt notice any color difference in my wine or flavor change. Im not using any extreme filter means though, just the ceap Vinebrite gravity filter.

 

[Rocky_Top]

I would not filter unless you have to. Commercial wine is put in the bottle early and has to survive a ride in a truck for a week or more. The temp changein the truck could kill the flavor and drop sedement. Bulk aging is the way to go. If you do get sedement in the bottle it will not hurt anything anyway.

 

[PolishWineP]

We rarely filter and only filter whites. Sediment is more noticable in whites, but I often feel that sediment in reds is a good thing.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We rarely filter and only filter whites. Sediment is more noticable in whites, but I often feel that sediment in reds is a good thing.

More body</font>????

 

[PolishWineP]

Chewy goodness!

 

[dragonmaster42]

Another way to add some fiber to your diet?