Hazy Viognier

[Bmd2k1]

I would take a picture at the same time every day, every 24 hours. You will see a lot of change in the first few days, then it will slow down. Like @winemaker81 says, it may take a few weeks. Your pictures will be helpful for you to decide when you no longer see any difference in the pictures. Then give it one more week.

Good idea...but my Speidel vessels are opaque :-/

 

[Hazelemere]

what's the least amount of h20 for a bentonite slurry -- for a 6gal batch of vino?

boil some water

pour the hot water into a blender say 2 cups

add 2 level tbsp powdered bentonite to the hot water with the blender turned on

blend the hot bentonite for 1 to 2 minutes. If it is too thick (hard to blend) add a bit more hot water

Pour the bentonite slurry into your viognier in a pail

stir it vigorously for about a minute

siphon it back into the carboy

After it settles (1-2 weeks) rack it off the bentonite and resulphite it e.g. 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulphite for a 5 gallon carboy.

After it re resettles (could take a month) rack it again and add 1/8 tsp sulphite which should get you to ~25 ppm free sulphite which is perfect.

Good luck with your Viognier.

 

[Bmd2k1]

Good idea...but my Speidel vessels are opaque :-/

24hrs later it appears to have done its job!

Any issues having the wine sit on the dropped bentonite et al for a few weeks?

 

[winemaker81]

Any issues having the wine sit on the dropped bentonite et al for a few weeks?

I've not had a problem. As I said above, I let the wine rest for at least a week to ensure everything has dropped. This is not so much fun I want to do it twice.

Did you use 2 tsp bentonite?

 

[Hazelemere]

24hrs later it appears to have done its job!

Any issues having the wine sit on the dropped bentonite et al for a few weeks?

no that is ok. It will keep clearing. Leave it alone until it is super clear before you rack it and sulphite it. Assume up to a month in your containers to really clear.

 

[Bmd2k1]

I've not had a problem. As I said above, I let the wine rest for at least a week to ensure everything has dropped. This is not so much fun I want to do it twice.

Did you use 2 tsp bentonite?

I ended up using the full 30g pak that came with some kit (not sure which...since I toss all the extras in a box) plus 8oz hot water. I ended up with a couple smallish blobs that I removed before mixing slurry into vino -- so total bentonite was something less than 30g.

Thanks for all the feedback folks....much appreciated!

 

[Bmd2k1]

Bottling today! There was still a good amount of darkish sediment at the bottom of the 20L Speidel - even after racking it off the bentonite more than a month and half ago -- so I decided to rack it to the bottling vessel via my Fermtec auto siphon rather than using the bottom spigot.

My Viognier turned out awesome! Uber clear and tasty ;-)

Cheers !