Riesling: Bentonite Fining

[jgareri]

Hi all, following up on my previous thread on Riesling. The low temp and slow fermentation is almost over. I was hoping for some guidance / opinions on if/when to do a slight bentonite fining. Should I do it now given that alcoholic fermentation is done so I can rack and bulk age for 5 to 6 months or should I rack off the lees (surprisingly not a lot of lees) and then do a fining near the end of the bulk ageing (I can just rack that off one more time or bottle depending on the progress)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[salcoco]

since you plan to bulk age I would let nature take it course and let the wine clear on it own.I am not a proponent on bentonite fining because of loose lees. if you do need fining I would use Super Kleer or as sold now as Durafine.

 

[jgareri]

since you plan to bulk age I would let nature take it course and let the wine clear on it own.I am not a proponent on bentonite fining because of loose lees. if you do need fining I would use Super Kleer or as sold now as Durafine.

Thanks for the response. I've been reading that a lot of commercial wineries are using bentonite but haven't seen anything on the 'loose lees' that you mention. Would you be able to expand on that? I am not too much of an interventionist - perhaps my process will be to let nature do its thing for 6 months, then do a very light fining if necessary?

 

[user 36973]

Bentonite is particularly excellent when added at the beginning of fermentation so that the CO2 bubbling circulates it around the container. It does a good job removing positively charged proteins. Now that alcoholic fermentation is essentially done you'd have to stir it around. Not a big deal for a small batch but more problematic for a large batch. Regardless, bentonite does not compact down too well and can be disturbed easily during racking (loose lees). At this point you may as well use the super-kleer stuff to drop protein&suspended particles or father time.

 

[Johnd]

Bentonite is particularly excellent when added at the beginning of fermentation so that the CO2 bubbling circulates it around the container. It does a good job removing positively charged proteins. Now that alcoholic fermentation is essentially done you'd have to stir it around. Not a big deal for a small batch but more problematic for a large batch. Regardless, bentonite does not compact down too well and can be disturbed easily during racking (loose lees). At this point you may as well use the super-kleer stuff to drop protein&suspended particles or father time.

Utilizing an additional agent, such as chitosan, in conjunction with the bentonite, is purported to help aid the compaction of the lees. Additionally, if done during bulk aging, and since we are talking about fine lees, some time in a cool environment aids as well in the compaction. I've also seen a light layer of wine diamonds form on top of those lees, which not only will push them down, but form a rigid cap over the top, really nice to rack off of that.

 

[jgareri]

Utilizing an additional agent, such as chitosan, in conjunction with the bentonite, is purported to help aid the compaction of the lees. Additionally, if done during bulk aging, and since we are talking about fine lees, some time in a cool environment aids as well in the compaction. I've also seen a light layer of wine diamonds form on top of those lees, which not only will push them down, but form a rigid cap over the top, really nice to rack off of that.

Fantastic. Based off what has been said, I think I'm going to let nature run its course for a while and see where that goes. If it doesn't progress fast enough, I will do a light fining and see if that works.

 

[Johnd]

Fantastic. Based off what has been said, I think I'm going to let nature run its course for a while and see where that goes. If it doesn't progress fast enough, I will do a light fining and see if that works.

If you have the time, I believe that the best course of action. If you end up with protein haze, you'll be able to handle it pretty easily.

 

[jgareri]

Update: I just racked the Riesling to a new carboy and had a 40 oz and a 750ml bottle in addition to the 5 gal carboy. Still cloudy, but fermentation is pretty much done. Added sulfites. However, the pH is now up to about 3.53 based on my meter. Tastes nice, but not sure if I should adjust down a bit with some tartaric acid. Thoughts?

 

[cmason1957]

Since you say it tastes good, maybe adjust a small amount, let it sit for a day or two and taste it. Decide which you like better. I've had some white that are wonderful and a bad ph of about that.

 

[salcoco]

way to early to start adding acids or other additives. wine is still full of carbon dioxide and carbolic aid derived therefrom, wait until wine is clear and a month or so of aging before doing any additive. and if it tastes good, go with the taste not the numbers.

 

[jgareri]

way to early to start adding acids or other additives. wine is still full of carbon dioxide and carbolic aid derived therefrom, wait until wine is clear and a month or so of aging before doing any additive. and if it tastes good, go with the taste not the numbers.

this is reassuring. I will let it sit for a while and deal with the issues when its all said and done. Hopefully it makes its way back to pH 3.3