Seyval ready to bottle?

[mgmarty]

I have ten gallons of Seyval that is just finishing cold stabilization. Nice layer of wine diamonds in the bottom of the carboy. It seems to have a slight protein haze. Should I just filter and bottle, or let it sit another month. It tastes wonderful, but haven't done any testing yet.

 

[grapeman]

I assume that this is from this years grapes. If so I would wait it out a bit longer to see if it finishes clearing. You could try a fining agent and some will try a bit of pectic enzyme. Normally you would try those before cold stabilizing so that the crystals weight down the fining agent. If it looks hazy filtering probably won't be enough.

 

[mgmarty]

Thanks. Yes this years vintage. I did use pectic enzyme during the ferment. Should I have used bentonite as well?

 

[grapeman]

The bentonite will help sometimes-depends on what is causing the cloudiness. It probably just needs a bit more time to settle.

 

[cintipam]

I also want to point out that the heat of fermentation deactivates pectic enzyme. Kmeta does also. That is why the normal protocol is kmeta first, wait at least 12 up to 24 hrs then pectic enzyme, wait again 12-24 to give it time to work then throw the yeast. I had a lot of cloudy issues till I learned how to use it properly. It's not too late to add PE again as long as you wait at least a couple days post adding kmeta. It takes a couple weeks to work at the later stage of winemaking.

Pam in cinti

 

[mgmarty]

Thank you. Does cold affect PE? The wine is being cold stabilized. I'll try some PE in a separate gallon.

 

[JohnT]

Why not filter and continue to bulk age?

 

[mgmarty]

Why not filter and continue to bulk age?

I will filter in one month, if it needs it. There's no hurry, so I'm just going to watch it. Hopefully it'll clear on its own.

 

[saddlebronze]

I vote for letting it sit, rack it without aeration and then use a fining agent like insinglass if it does not clear. Filtering can expose a delicate white to oxidation if not done right and lead to loss of flavor.

 

[mgmarty]

I'm very concerned about oxidation. I want to back sweeten it just a little, and that scares me. I don't want to filter. I'm leaning towards racking and leave it for a while.