WineXpert Luna Rossa- very slow clearing

[jdeere5220]

Nothing major, just looking for opinions. This is my 4th batch of Luna Rossa, and for some reason it's clearing really slowly. We did spill about 1/3 of the chitosan when we added that which could be part of the problem.

Anyway it's been a month since adding the clearing agent and it's still got a long way to go. I think my choices are 1) Hit it with super kleer or similar or 2) Wait it out.

I talked to my local FOP guy and he said wait it out. My question is, how long will this take? I know wine will clear eventually on it's own, but I really don't want to have this carboy tied up for another 6 months. How long would you expect a batch like this (full bodied red) to take to clear on its own?

 

[MN-winer]

I think it depends upon how long you can wait. All wines will clear on their own given time. If its not clear maybe you still have some gas in the wine that is suspending the particles. Personally I'd give it a few weeks and see if its progressing, and if not then hit it with SuperKleer or some other clearing agent. Those work real fast. I've got Luna Rossa in secondary now and it cleared nicely for me. good luck.

 

[robie]

Yes, as Winer said, it could be gas. Like he said, wait a short time. If not clear, degas again at 75F, then add SuperKlear. Otherwise, it could take months for it to clear on its own.

 

[jdeere5220]

Here I am two months later. I've racked twice more, degassed twice more, and added a small packet of chitosan clearing agent during the the first re-racking which didn't do anything as far as I could tell. Didn't see much CO2 either time.

It's finally cleared to the point that I can see my light through the carboy for the first 6 inches! Finally! I think one more month, maybe two, and it will be fully cleared at this rate. I'm getting some fine sediment dust on the bottom of the carboy, so I'm glad I didn't rush to bottle.

I fermented this on a grapeskin pack that was from a Kenridge Grenach kit, which I have never done before. My FOP guy suggested it, he said that grapeskin pack could be used twice so that's what I did. I don't know if all the extra color and TDS from the grape pack is what has made this take so long? Also I'm wondering if I should have squeezed the cloth bag the grapes were in as I removed it from the primary? I never had a grapeskin pack before so I didn't know if squeezing the bag was good or bad... so I decided to give it a squish. Opinions?

Anyway I'm just sharing the experience. Never had a kit take this long to clear before, but we want to age it a bit anyway so no harm done. This might sound silly, but does this extra clearing time count in the aging time (I sure hope so!).

 

[MN-winer]

The aging clock starts when its fully fermented so clearing counts for aging in my book. Luna Rossa is a full heavy bodied wine and I suspect that even after "clearing" it will drop some sediment. As far as I'm concerned, thats a sign of a good wine when you have some sediment in the bottom of the glass. I've had two bottles already and this kit is very nice. Mine was a little gassy, somehow. The first time I've not degassed enough. It forms some bubbles when i pour it in a glass. No blown corks or anything, Its just a slight effervensence. Enjoy!!!

 

[Wade E]

I never use the fining agents included in the W.E. kits. They never seem to work for me and I almost always had to follow it up with SuperKleer. I just throw that fining agent away now when I buy a W.E. kit.

 

[jdeere5220]

Anyone have thoughts on my question of whether or not you should squeeze the juice out the grape skin bag when you remove it from the primary? Is like a fine cloth bag, and it had a lot of juice in it when I removed it so I squeezed that out into my wine. Was that good to do or not?

You folks that always do the skins kits must have an opinion......

 

[Flem]

You did good! Definitely squeeze the **** out of it. LOL

 

[ibglowin]

It should go with out saying you should keep your carboy warm (70-74 degrees) until you have degassed and the wine has also cleared.

 

[Wade E]

I always squeeze! Its just like Charmin!