Black Diamonds?

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drainsurgeon

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I've been making kit wines for a number of years now and never had a problem with sediment in the bottles...until now. I made 11 batches of wine last summer and still have about 150 bottles that I let age over the winter. I live in northern MN but was in AZ from Dec-April. I leave my house thermostat at 50 degrees while gone. The wine is stored in the basement which is probably 5-10 degrees cooler. I have never experienced "diamonds" in my wine before so I'm not even sure what they look like.

A Shiraz and a Chilean merlot that are both about 11 months old, have what looks like pepper corns in the bottom of the bottles. They are hard and the size and color of pepper corns.

I know I'm going to get lectured about aging my wine in carboys longer before bottling, but I've never had this before. I've probably made close to 90 kits over the last 8 years and never any sediment or stuff in the bottles, and some have aged up to 3 years. Any ideas on what these are?
 
I agree with Craig. To be clear, I am pretty sure that when he says:

You can help to remove them by getting the wine to a lower temp than 40 F for an extended period of time.

He means, the way to avoid them in future batches is to hold the carboy at low temperature before bottling. You will not be able to remove the diamonds from your present bottles.

And I agree, they are nothing to worry about in your current bottles.
 
I thought thats what they might be. The temp in the basement was probably in the 40 range for several months this winter. The wine seems to be fine otherwise sooo...I will tell people that its a sign of a VERY high quality wine that very few ever experience. Each bottle must be worth hundreds of dollars! :h
 
I thought thats what they might be. The temp in the basement was probably in the 40 range for several months this winter. The wine seems to be fine otherwise sooo...I will tell people that its a sign of a VERY high quality wine that very few ever experience. Each bottle must be worth hundreds of dollars! :h

And age your wine longer in carboys!!!!!!!!!!! (Wouldn't want you to be disappointed)
 

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