WineXpert Skipping bentonite?

[Floandgary]

I'm not sure what exactly he was getting at, but bentonite is a clay, harvested from the earth.
Uses typically associated with it are in the production of "drilling mud" in the petroleum industry.
It is also used to stop leaks in ponds that are having difficulty holding water, it will get drawn into the porous strata and basically clog it up.

I'm sure there are others, but that's where I've run into it outside of the wine world.

There ya have it!! "Outside the wine world" it may have people scratching their heads. Throwing mud in your wine doesn't sound very appealing or scientific but it works. Just a little factoid.

 

[marathon]

Never ever used it for any of my kits or home grown juice. Maybe I have been lucky and always had my wine clear by itself.

 

[cancan]

What is your process? Just bulk aging? I read in one of the post if you keep wine cool, below 60F, in couple days it would clear. Is it true? Does a.y one has experience with this?

 

[Floandgary]

I have used a fining agent only twice, and both for a white wine. Once Bentonite and once SUPER-KLEER K.C. (Kieselsol/Chitosan) on a couple of stubborn batches. They worked well. But since I do reds 5:1 and bulk age for @12 months, I've found that "time" works quite well as a clearing agent. "Put it in a cool, dry place" is the ticket!!

 

[NorCal]

I was once told I was "heavy handed" in my winemaking. My additions, racking, filtering, testings, toppings, fining, so I took the approach that in winemaking less is more.

For me clearing agents are a tool. If the wine doesn't need it, it stays in the toolbox.