Filtering the Wine

During the Filtration of the White Wine

As I said in an earlier post, I began making wine in 1978.  Years before I started to make my own wine, I tasted homemade wines, and I enjoyed very few of them.  Most of the homemade wines I experienced suffered at least two large flaws; when held up to the light they were hazy and not at all clear, and they did not taste good.  In fact, I would say that most of the homemade wines that I came in contact with had a dank, musty or swampy taste that just was not at all pleasing.





The White Wine Just Prior to Filtering and Having
Been Treated to a Fining Agent

 Some would say that wine clarity is not that important.  I personally find a clear wine appealing and an invitation to taste it.  Because of its color, the quality of clarity is easy to see in a white wine.  In the thirty-four years of making wine, there have been only a handful of times that my white wines have fallen brilliantly clear on their own, and if I were not careful, the settled sediments would easily become suspended again into the wine.

The Same White Wine as Above After Filtration
Label is on Opposite Side of Jug as Viewed
Through 15 Inches of Wine

There are many fining agents on the market.  A fining agent is a material that is added to the wine prior to bottling that is supposed to promote charification.  They are more or less easy to use, but they can offer problems and often times the wine is no clearer or just slightly so after using them.  After experimenting with many of them, I find that by far the best and easiest fining agent to use is a filter.  Now, there is no question that just prior to bottling, I filter all of my wines.



When making wine at home, the containers used and their care are of primary importance.  I do not use wood containers because they are very difficult to keep clean and sterile.  The home wine makers that I come in contact with here in Greece usually use old wooden barrels that have been in use for generations and they have not been cared for well.  As a result, the wines produced in them pick up off flavors that are just not good!  Besides, if wine with wood flavoring is desired, there are different varieties of wood chips available in most wine making supply stores along with instructions for their proper use.  I use only glass, stainless steal, and plastic containers;  the plastic ones are used very briefly and only in the early stages of the wine making process.  Of course, the big advantages of glass and stainless steal are that they are easy to care for and to sterilize, they are easy to handle and move around, and they do not add any flavors of their own to the wine.