Fining before bottling

[pecka]

My first batch of wine is just about ready for bottling. I started with cabernet sauvignon grapes last December and have now had 5 gallons of wine aging for a year. I was going to taste this weekend to see if it is ready to bottle but I have a question about fining. i guess my question is, do i need to? I purchased gelatin in case the wine is very tannic (it hasnt shown it so far but just in case). i have racked it 3 or 4 times so it should be clear but as of the last racking 2 months ago, it was still a bit cloudy. I guess i will see how clear, tannic, etc it is this weekend. So with fining, do i or dont i? Also, if i do use the gelatin, what is the process, i have not found detailed info on it.
thanks in advance.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I have never used gelatin but you should get it clear before bottling. Although it won't effect the taste by now it would be a bit embarassing down the roadto have sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

There's not enough info. here but did you degass the wine, was it in a room temp. area to clear for at least awhile?

 

[Runningwolf]

Filtering may also help this wine. Are you going to cold sabilize?

 

[pecka]

being in southern california, cold stabilizing is a bit of a challenge so i was probably not going to go that route. i also will probably not filter because i dont have the equipment and my wife is already not happy with all my "gotta have" wine making stuff.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I searched a bit and found that you should rack within 5 days of adding gelatin to your wine. Follow directions on mixing in though.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I am surprized that the wine isnt clear after a year. I would use sparkaloid myself. Without filtering you might not find hard to clear a wine that hasn't cleared in a year

 

[pecka]

thanks. i am going to check it this weekend to see how it looks / tastes etc. hopefully it tells me it wants to be bottled!

 

[pecka]

Ok, so i tested the wine. PH and acidity are exactly where i want them. Taste is pretty darn good if i do say so myself. But...the clarity is bad. I did get a bit of sediment in my wine thief when pulling out the wine so maybe i just need to rack again. I am considering a gelatin fining as the wine is a bit taniic (but it is a cab so its to be expected). I am leaning towards racking and waiting another two months to bottle. Or i guess i can buy filtration equipment and go that route...my wife wont make me sleep on the couch that long...