a persistent white wine haze

[Lee]

I have a persistent haze in a chardonnay, made from frozen juice. The
wine was finished too late to put it out for a cold stabilitzation.
After completing an MLF, I couldn't get rid of a diffuse haze. I
tried bentonite, and then superkleer. When that didn't work, I
thought it might be a protein haze, but pectic enzyme (that I had
initially used, but then repeated, didn't clear the wine at all.

Finally, I put the wine through a filtration, with perfect results.

I then put the carboy in a large refrigerator, hoping to precipitate
out the excess tartaric acid, and the haze came back.

Interestingly, I had a small jug of the wine, left over, that wouldn't
fit in the carboy, and this small jug, in the refrigerator,
crystalized out perfectly, and is clear.

So, I suspect that the new haze is due to micro-crystals of tartaric.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I doubt that this haze will clear
on its own. Should I re-filter? re-fine? I've even allowed the
carboy to warm up a bit, but it hasn't changed, and is diffusely
cloudy.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Lee

[Doug Miller]

In article <9d26f818-1383-4b18...@b22g2000prb.googlegroups.com>, Lee <lg1...@aol.com> wrote:
>I have a persistent haze in a chardonnay, made from frozen juice. The
>wine was finished too late to put it out for a cold stabilitzation.
>After completing an MLF, I couldn't get rid of a diffuse haze. I
>tried bentonite, and then superkleer. When that didn't work, I
>thought it might be a protein haze, but pectic enzyme (that I had
>initially used, but then repeated, didn't clear the wine at all.
>
>Finally, I put the wine through a filtration, with perfect results.
>
>I then put the carboy in a large refrigerator, hoping to precipitate
>out the excess tartaric acid, and the haze came back.
>
>Interestingly, I had a small jug of the wine, left over, that wouldn't
>fit in the carboy, and this small jug, in the refrigerator,
>crystalized out perfectly, and is clear.
>
>So, I suspect that the new haze is due to micro-crystals of tartaric.

I'd agree.

>Does anyone have any other ideas? I doubt that this haze will clear
>on its own. Should I re-filter? re-fine? I've even allowed the
>carboy to warm up a bit, but it hasn't changed, and is diffusely
>cloudy.
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I think I'd keep it chilled. Leave it alone for at least two weeks, then see
what it looks like. If it is microcrystals of tartaric acid, the haze will
disappear when the wine reaches room temperature -- but of course it will
reappear as soon as you chill the bottled wine. I vote for leaving it cold;
see if the haze precipitates out. If it does, rack it, filter if necessary,
then bottle. If it doesn't, then you need to be looking for other causes.

[A.J. Rawls]

I have 18 galons of Crabapple that sat in a cool area for two years and
had a persistent haze. I tried Pectic Exzyme and the haze persisted. I
tried SuperKleer and the haze persisted. I filtered the wine with a
SuperJet with #2 pads and the haze persisted. I treated one carboy with
Hot Mix Sparkloid and it fell sparkling clear in four weeks.

I cannot explain it, but it worked.

Later,
A. J. Rawls
Anchorage, Alaska, USA

[lync...@gmail.com]

We have the same problem. I used the same steps as you, then got frustrated and tried a old fashion method. Take 1 egg white add a small amount of salt. Then beat the salt into the egg. Add in a cup of the wine to the egg white salt mixture. Beat the wine-egg-salt mix till large frothy bubbles appear. Add the mix to a 5 gallon carboy and stir. Within hours it should start clearing. For best results leave wine in the cold first then add egg.