Filtering wine. General question

[Eriewineguy]

So I am fairly new to winemaking, just a little over a year. I have bottled roughly 15 gallons and have roughly 30 gallons going now. I have used mostly juices purchased at local wineries ( Lake Erie region) . So I have followed the tried and true methods with good tasting results so far...except. Like it seems to many people on this site, my wines just never seem to get crystal clear... Even after 5 or 6 racks and 6-9 months. I am generally impatient ( I know, not good for a winemaker) so I went and purchased a buon vino mini jet wine filterer. Wow!!! I had 10 gallons of Riesling juice purchased locally in two separate carboys. First rack 11-1-2012, second rack 1-2-2013, third rack 2-4-2013. I got ready for fourth rack this week, and there appeared to be little sediment in other carbon, but there was plenty of cloudiness. I regular racked one and filtered the second using a #2 buon vino filter. Wow. The filtered wine was sparkling clear. I have thm both still aging, but the filtered wine definetly ( so far) seems like its ready to bottle. And neither carboy had much sediment at all after racking/ filtering.

So...I haven't seen much discussion regarding filtering, so here are my questions. If I filter after 2-3 rackings and 4-6 months aging...is there any difference about aging it further in the carboy vs letting it age in the bottle? What if I filtered after two months and achieved crystal clear wine...is aging in the bottle the same as aging in the carboy? And just when do wines, whether aged in carboys or bottles, reach their "optimum age".

I look forward to the feedback

 

[Runningwolf]

Ok first of all you should be cold stabilizing your wine coming from this region because it is high in acid. I can't get into it right now because of time but can later or someone else will chime in.the wine you got last year if it is whites should be ready for bottling now if it is clear. Give Debbie a call at Presqu Isle today and she can explain the Cold Stabiling to you or I will tonight.

 

[Eriewineguy]

Hi running wolf. I had the carboys in my garage since the first rack in November. My garage is unhseated and its been relatively cold this winter so temps in my garage have been 30 at the lowest to maybe 45-50 for 3 months. Only around first of march did I move them to the basement of my business, and even there it is a steady and dark 50. Is that enough to cold stabilize my whites? They are mostly Rieslings, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, niagara, some home made peach and a honey mead.

 

[Runningwolf]

Hey Jeff, yes they should be fine. If you sweeten the Niagara and Riesling besure to add sorbate and meta. when adding sugar.