Other Haze - Pectic or other?

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tjgaul

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I made a conglomeration of one gallon each - Niagara (Welch's 100% White concentrate) - Concord (from grapes) and raspberry. Each wine was fermented separately, degassed and allowed to age 5-7 months. I used super-kleer on the Niagara and it had wispies at both rackings. The 3 were blended about a 6 weeks ago, had K-sorbate added, back sweetened slightly and left for another 3 weeks. The 3 gallon carboy looked pretty clear so I went ahead and bottled it up this past weekend. I definitely have a haze. I'm not sure if this is a pectic haze or some other issue.

I'm not overly concerned since this is really targeted for making wine coolers. I back sweetened to an SG of 1.002. I think I should have given it a bit more sugar because it is still awfully tart. However, for the intended purpose I think it's a decent wine and it just may surprise me in a few more months. ABV is about 13%.

Looking for thoughts on the source of the haze.

haze.jpg
 
Forgot to note that the back sweetening was done with mostly simple syrup 1:1, but I also used about 100 ml of the F-pac that came with an Island Mist Sauvignon Blanc kit.
 
I made a conglomeration of one gallon each - Niagara (Welch's 100% White concentrate) - Concord (from grapes) and raspberry. Each wine was fermented separately, degassed and allowed to age 5-7 months. I used super-kleer on the Niagara and it had wispies at both rackings. The 3 were blended about a 6 weeks ago, had K-sorbate added, back sweetened slightly and left for another 3 weeks. The 3 gallon carboy looked pretty clear so I went ahead and bottled it up this past weekend. I definitely have a haze. I'm not sure if this is a pectic haze or some other issue.

I'm not overly concerned since this is really targeted for making wine coolers. I back sweetened to an SG of 1.002. I think I should have given it a bit more sugar because it is still awfully tart. However, for the intended purpose I think it's a decent wine and it just may surprise me in a few more months. ABV is about 13%.

Looking for thoughts on the source of the haze.

If you didn't use pectic enzyme during fermentation or afterwards, it could be source, but it's really hard to tell from just looking. Could also be protein. I've had similar issues in some light colored / white wines and as a result have resorted to what I call my "typical protocol" for white and light wines.

It's pretty simple really, just use pectic enzymes and bentonite in your initial fermentation stages, and chitosan added after degassing, it has always done an amazing job of clearing. Occasionally, my wines have had the pectic/bentonite/chitosan added post fermentation and degassing, always with great results as well.
 
Update . . . pulled a bottle out last night and the haze has nearly completely cleared. No visible residue in the bottom of the bottle and it is much clearer. I'm uncertain what was going on, but I am thinking this had to do with blending in the F-pac from the Island Mist kit.

In any case, the wine has cleared back to a pleasant pale pink. Maybe I'll get real lucky and some of the tartness will have dissipated also.
 

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