1st time cold stabilizing

[Dufresne11]

I just bottled 6 gallons of Pinot Grigio as a xmas present for my father in law. When I racked it was crystal clear and now I am getting some wine diamonds in the bottle. Not a big deal to me or him for that matter.

However I have another 6 gallons going for his birthday in the spring. I just started it from juice in september. I performed a TA test and came up with .92 which is higher than the .70 I was shooting for. So I am performing my first cold stabilization. My wine room happens to be the same part of the cellar that holds the hatchway to the backyard. I built a shelf to hold it level on one of the steps and popped the carboy in there along with a thermometer. Temp held at 34 -35 all night so it looks like I am going to be fine. I am hoping it doesn't go below 25 in there so I will have to monitor regularly.

I don't really have a question but my wife doesn't get that excited when I wax on about the potential benefits of cold stabilization. Sooooo you had to hear about it......

 

[Julie]

LOL, glad you found a place for cold stabilizing and come back and post how it comes out. I would be interested in knowing what temps you have and for how long you cs and what the ta is afterwards.

thanks for posting

 

[Runningwolf]

If you're waxing, thats a personal issue but the cold stabilizing is a good thing. I think 2-3 weeks max and you'll be find. If the temps get down in to the lower 20's they'll fall out even quicker. Did you add vodka to your air locks to prevent them from freezing? Thats the only other thing I would suggest. I would not worry about the temps much until they get in the teens. In most cases the wine will just become a heavy slush. It does not start to freeze until it gets down around 28*. Good luck and keep us posted. We always love to hear stories (just not the waxing one LOL).

 

[Wade E]

Temps on wine freezing cn really vary depending on how sweet or alcholic the wine is. Sugar in the wine can prevent the wine from freezing at higher temps but it can also make the wine thicker and at some point work against you here. Like Dan was stating if its a high sg wine like an ice wine it can gel up much faster. Once you have gotten the wine diamons out and settled on the bottom rack off at a cold temp or some of the acid can go back into suspension if temps are brought back up.

 

[Dufresne11]

Alright no more waxing.... I always use vodka in my airlocks so I should be fine there. Thanks for the tip on racking cold thought Wade. I am not interested in going through this only to have those little buggers jump back up into my wine! My father in law is a good guy but he likes to point out "improvements" that can be made to the hundreds of free bottles of wine I give him.

It is honest feedback though so hey I can't complain....