Chardonnay has formed crystals ?

[KLSTRPHKR2012]

first try at a Chard...fermented 9/13/2010, racked to secondary 9/24 (sg .994). add mlf 9/30. on 10/23 racked & sulfited ( did not add sorbate). 11/13 fined with super-kleer. 11/20 racked and filtered. 11/23 bottled.
all seemed well dranks serveral bottles. just opened another today and saw this. see pic

 

[Wade E]

That just means you had very good quality juice or grapes. When making wine from quality products such as this you can prevent this by cold stabilizing the wine which means to put your wine in a very cold place (About 30* give or take a little) for a few weeks as this will make that settle out. This is called wine diamonds and it wont hurt your wine at all, it will drop the TA some which is fine and some times called for depending. Just pour it carefully so as not to get any in your glass.

 

[Runningwolf]

Not to worry. You got the famous ice diamonds we have been talking about the last several weeks. This is what cold stabilizing prevents as you remove them from the carboy before bottling. Your wine is not effected in anyway except for appearance of sediment and a smoother taste. Just becareful pouring the last glass and don't offer it to a unsuspecting guest. I assume you had this bottle in the refrigerator for a while or a cool cellar 60* or colder.
Check you other bottles in storage. if they do not have crystals, in the future what I would do is chill your bottles just before getting ready to serve it (a few hours). This should prevent them from showing up.

 

[KLSTRPHKR2012]

as temps dropped here is SW PA, cellar was at 50 -55 last few months. thanks for all the advice ! this juice was from Lodi CA ( consumers produce ) and very good. got lots a comps on it. lightly oaked and added roasted pistachios nuts for taste. agains thanks. i feel better. the pinot grigio is still ok.

 

[Wade E]

Thats where I got mine also. My Chard is in my cellar right now cold stabilizing and has been there for about 2 months now. It has a nice pile now and even dropped some out before I even put it in there so Ill be racking off soon and bottling. No oak with mine and no MLF and I cool fermented it to keep it as fruity as possible.

 

[ffemt128]

Thats where I got mine also. My Chard is in my cellar right now cold stabilizing and has been there for about 2 months now. It has a nice pile now and even dropped some out before I even put it in there so Ill be racking off soon and bottling. No oak with mine and no MLF and I cool fermented it to keep it as fruity as possible.

What yeast did you guys use for your Chardonnay? Considering a bucket of Chilean this time around.

 

[winemaker_3352]

There is nothing wrong with the wine - it is safe to drink. As the temps dropped the acid crystallized and dropped out.

As wade said - cold stabilizing will prevent this. If you are serving this - just pour it into a decanter w/o the crystals and know one will know.

 

[robie]

Roasted pistachios? Never heard if that, but it sounds like it could be very interesting.

Does it provide an actual roasted pistachio taste or just a nutty taste?

 

[djrockinsteve]

All of my carboys with whites and reds have the white diamonds in them. Some more than others. It gets pretty chilly down there this time of year and I look for them each year. I like how they glisten mixed in with the oak chips.

 

[KLSTRPHKR2012]

the pistachio nuts added some nutty flavor along with the oak was a nice balance. 1 cup nuts toasted for 45 mins in oven & 4 oz of heavy french oak. only left the nuts and oak in for 2 weeks during 2nd fermentation.
i'll do it again while the chilean only add more nuts and leave in longer.