Chardonel and Sevyal wines precipitating out TA

[winemaker_3352]

Usually you see the TA crystals formed by Cold Stabilization or by using potassium or calcium carbonate. My Chardonel and Seyval wines have just been aging - temp is about 70 degrees - i have not added potassium or calcium carbonate and it has not went through CS either - but i see TA crystals at the bottom.

Can TA precipitate out at these temps?

 

[Wade E]

Yes and that means its pretty excessive. and if chilled would probably drop a ton! Maybe you could break these down into gallon batches temporarily and throw each gallon jug into the fridge for a week or 2.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I actually have a few in a gallon jug - had extra - so i can shove that in the fridge - and see what happens.

The problem i find is - i actually loved the taste with the higher TA - it has a very nice fruity crisp taste to it.

Will dropping the temp remove a lot of TA? If so - not sure i want to drop it that much? Is that bad to leave the TA above the target range?

 

[Wade E]

I may drop out alot guessing by the fact its dropping out at 70*. Grapeman says doing this cold stabilization also has another usefullness though which is to rid the wine of a chill haze later which happens when you chill a bottle and it gets all cloudy hazy. There is a agent out there that is supposed to prevt the wine diamonds from dropping out for about 1 year and comes with the high end RJS kits and its called Metatartaric acid. Below is a link that discusses its useage and how it works
http://www.enartis.com/download/amt_eng.pdf

 

[grapeman]

I would chill it to drop out the excess. It won't lower the acid that much and will still taste nice and fruity and crisp. You might also want to try the additive first.

 

[countrygirl]

what's up jon? i can see nothing specific in my chardonel...i'm at 71.3 degrees, but i also have much less in amount, a 3 gal. and a 1 gal. jug. keep us updated!!

 

[winemaker_3352]

K - so i have been stupid about this - i have a 6' long 3' deep deep freezer that doesn't hold anything but fruit - i can buy a thermostat override and use that for 1-2 months out of the year to do my cold stabilization.

What thermostat overrides do you all suggest? I don't need the most expensive one - but i want a reliable one and one that is easy to read - which probably means a digital one.

 

[Wade E]

Simple dial thermo where you just plug in your freezer or fridge and dial in the number you want.
http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=FE600

 

[winemaker_3352]

Can cold stabilization be done at any time or is there a certain time it is better to do?

Fermentation is complete - so i am assuming that anytime would be alright.

I am do to rack in a few months - should i CS in about a month - leave at 35 degrees for about a month - then rack?

 

[grapeman]

Can cold stabilization be done at any time or is there a certain time it is better to do?

Fermentation is complete - so i am assuming that anytime would be alright.

I am do to rack in a few months - should i CS in about a month - leave at 35 degrees for about a month - then rack?

That would work fine. Just rack before the wine heats back up as some of the precipitate may go nback into solution.