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Making Supplies
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Fining is the step in wine making that removes unwanted
components from a wine, components that would otherwise affect
clarity, color, and odor. The most common of these problems is wine
clarity. Most wine will clear on its own if given sufficient time. Many
will clear within a few months from the completion of fermentation,
however the time required by some wines can be quite long. In any
case, a wine should not be bottled until it is sparkling clear
otherwise sediment will form in the bottle as the wine ages. Most
wine makers wait at least six months to see if the wine will clear in
the carboy before resorting to the use of a fining agent. Many will
wait eight or nine months or just prior to freeing up their carboys for
the next vintage.
The process of fining is a relatively simple task. It requires racking
the wine of any sediment that may have formed, adding a properly
prepared fining agent, mixing the fining agent into the wine, waiting
a sufficient period of time, and racking the now clear wine off the
newly formed sediment.
Fining agents fall into two rather broad categories. The first of these
is natural food products which tend to strip the surface charge from
the colloidal or haze particles allowing them to agglomerate and fall
to the bottom of the container. In this category are Gelatin, Albumin
(egg white), Casein (skim milk), lsinglass (sturgeon swim bladder),
Agar agar (seaweed), and Ox blood. The other group is a varied lot
containing proprietary materials, many developed for the specific
purpose of fining. This includes Bentonite, Sparkolloid, and
Polyclar, and Charcoal.
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Boil (simmer) each tsp in about 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes then add to wine while hot and stir well. (Replace water that may evaporate during boiling to avoid scorching.) |
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Soak each 1/2 tsp in about 1/2 cup of boiled water for 24 hours, then stir to a creamy consistency before mixing with the wine. Can be added during fermentation. |
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Dissolve in a little warm, not hot, water then stir into the wine. In using with a wine low in tannin, add 1/4 tsp grape tannin/gal, 24 hours before fining. |
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Can be added directly to the wine or first mixed with a little water. Mix well into the wine then stir again two or three more times during the first hour after addition. |
