Cold Stabilizing?

Hello,

I am going to start to cold stabilize my Pinot Grigio. I started it in mid Sept and racked it from primary to secondary 10 days later, then 4 weeks later I racked and put in campden tablets into a clean carboy. It has been that way for almost 4 weeks. My question is should I rack it again into a clean carboy or just start to do the cold stablization. And for how long should I do that for and what is the best tempeture to keep it at. This is not a kit it was made with fresh juice buckets. And the last question will the cold stabilizing help with my merlot and grenache wines as well or should I only do it to the white wines.


Thanks in advance for all the help,

Bryan

I like to cold stabilize all my wines. I'd suggest 35F or so but I just put mine out in the garage in the winter and keep them there for 3-4 weeks. I'll bring them inside if the garage gets below 25F.

yes, out in the garage is the best approach - there aren't a lot of places in the US where wine will actuall freeze but if you hit the low 20's (farenheit) or -7 (celcius) you may want to bring it in the house. Leave it at that temp for at least a week. (mine just sits out there all winter since my garage is never below about -5 C)

Its is most efficient to let tartarate precipitate on top of any other finings that you are doing as it will compact the lees bed.

You can also do the same for red wines but note two points: 1) red juice is often less acidic to start with and doesn't neccessarily need this treatment. 2) when you precipitate the tartarate it will take some polyphenols and tannins with it so you will lose part of that flavour as well.

BTW the precipitated tartarate crystals (potassium bitartarate) will wash out with a warm solution containing baking soda.