White Wine Does not Clear with Bentonite or Sparkolloid Powder

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

NDengineer

Junior
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
22
Reaction score
2
I have a grape white wine that I cannot clear.

It was pressed from quasi-wild green grapes a neighbor had; best guess is Niagra. Anyways, the fermentation completed 9 months ago, and I've racked the wine 5 times, but it persists in being very cloudy.

I added bentonite, stirred daily for a week, then let settle for 3 weeks and racked it off - no change to clarity. Next, I added Sparkolloid Powder, stirred daily for a week, and it's been settling for two weeks now. The clarity still hasn't improved in any noticeable fashion - it is very cloudy.

Any suggestions on what to try next? Thanks.
 
Try to add some wine to isopropyl alcohol, if white stringy things appear, chances are it is a pectin haze. Pectic enzyme would clear that right up! Check out pectin haze on jack kellers site under wine problems for detailed instructions on the test. Hope that helps!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. After testing the wine, it appears it may be a pectin haze. I'll rack it off the sparkolloid powder and add the pectic enzyme; hopefully tomorrow. I never added the pectic enzyme to the must because it was a grape wine.
 
I had a batch of peach wine 2008 that would not clear. I read that a small amount of egg whites would work, and it did. Do some reading on egg whites and it might surprise you. And it didn't take long to see it working. The egg whites you buy at the store in a carton, worked just as good as an egg you separate the white from the yoke.
6carboys
 
I added the pectic enzyme about two weeks ago, and now it's incredibly clear! I have to rack it off the sediment, but it looks awesome so far. Thanks for the help Poni.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top