When is a wine clear

[brottman]

Here are three wines I have in bulk aging. I have heard that a wine is clear when you can clearly read print right through it. Does this only hold true for whites? I don't see how this would be possible with a dark red like a Shiraz. Even the raspberry looks clear in my top up bottle, but I cannot see through it in the large part of the carboy.

Left: Red Raspberry
Middle: Muscato
Right: Shiraz

 

[noblesquirrel]

Here are three wines I have in bulk aging. I have heard that a wine is clear when you can clearly read print right through it. Does this only hold true for whites? I don't see how this would be possible with a dark red like a Shiraz. Even the raspberry looks clear in my top up bottle, but I cannot see through it in the large part of the carboy.

Left: Red Raspberry
Middle: Muscato
Right: Shiraz

What I do with my meads is put some in a glass and then read through it. That way, i can tilt the glass until it's translucent enough to read through The other option is to shine a flashlight through it. That'll give you a good indication of clarity.

 

[Pyg]

2 out of the 3 look clear enough to me.
With Grape wine or dark fruit, I usually pour into a glass and hold up to a light, if you can see through it, it is good!

 

[Yooper]

The idea of bottling only a clear wine is to have minimal sediment in the bottle. If it looks clear, but it's dark, you can hold the sample up to light and see. It should still be clear, although dark. Also, if there are NO new lees at all after at least 60 days in a new vessel, and it appears clear, then I would call it clear and bottle it.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

The Moscato looks nice, but from one moscato maker to another, I would use a fining agent on it, I prefer sparkolloid, but that's just what works for me, you can use your choice; I've found that if I don't fine/clear my whites, after a month or two in the bottle, I always have some light sediment in the bottle. I usually fine/clear my whites, back sweeten if it applies to the wine( yes, I use sorbate when back sweetening), followed by a pass through a .35 micron filter, this gives it a very polished look.
The Shiraz - I always age my reds for a year at the very minimum, during this time it will drop sediment and I rack off the sediment as needed.