When you learn how to make homemade
wine, it is inevitable that you will have to learn
too about wine clarification. A simple definition of wine
clarification is that it is that part of the winemaking
process wherein suspended sediments or solids within the
liquid will be sieved out and make the wine itself seem
less “turbid” or hazy to the naked eye. Like its name
suggests, when wine clarification is done right, the wine
will look clearer when you look at it in a good
light.
One misconception about wine particles is that
solids have to be quite big to be considered a problem in
how to make homemade wine. Actually, the
clarity of your wine will be influenced by the presence
of smaller particles that may hover in your wine liquid
itself rather than be the bigger chunks settling at the
bottom of the bottle – thus, we say that a wine is
“turbid” or has “high turbidity” when the liquid seems
rather hazy.
Learning How Bentonite Can Affect How to Make
Homemade Wine
To induce wine clarification and minimize or
eliminate turbidity in our homemade wine, we need
clarifiers. And one clarifier that vintners use for
homemade wine is called Bentonite. Bentonite is a type of
clay that – when added to wine liquid – will cause
protein-based particles to cling to it. Take note that
there are different types of Bentonite so ask a reliable
source of vintner products for food-grade Bentonite and
not the type used for industrial applications. Bentonite
is particularly good for the how to make wine
from home process when you are trying to induce
wine clarification in white wines which need to be clear
to be drinkable and more highly valued. But Bentonite can
also be used for the red wines too.
Bentonite functions in the process of how to
make wine from home by emitting a negative
electrostatic charge when placed as a granule within the
wine liquid – in simpler terms, Bentonite emits static
electricity. With Bentonite on the job, the finer
particles or sediments in the liquid will adhere to the
Bentonite granule so that they are easier to
remove.
The protein-based particles have to be taken out
of your wine because over time – when left in the wine
itself – these particles will cause the wine itself to
become hazy or turbid as the proteins denature under
warmer temperatures. As you can tell, white wine would be
particularly unattractive to look at and drink where it
not for the use of clarifiers like Bentonite to induce
wine clarification.
The Benefits of
Using Bentonite in How to Make Wine from
Home
Wine clarification gets easier when you use
Bentonite because it has been proven effective at sieving
out those protein-based particles like tannin and yeast
which have to be removed once fermentation is done.
Another side benefit that Bentonite brings is that some
off-flavors in the wine can be eliminated as well with
Bentonite use. Plus, Bentonite may also cut down on the
tendency of your bottled wine to oxidize.
Choose the Bentonite that does release quite a
lot of static electricity to get the best
results.
How to Use
Bentonite in Wine Clarification
Make sure that all fermentation of your wine has
been completed before attempting to use
Bentonite.
To use Bentonite, boil one pint of water first.
This boiling water should then be poured into a blender –
then add 3 tablespoons of Bentonite to that water. Blend
this solution from between one to two minutes until a
type of slurry solution is formed. Set aside this blended
slurry so that it will set. While the mixture sets, the
Bentonite granules will swell in size until they are
saturated.
You may now add up to two tablespoonfuls of this
set solution into one gallon of your homemade wine to
induce wine clarification.
Getting the
Best Results Out of Your Bentonite Saturated
Slurry
To get optimal results, make sure that you chill
your wine liquid to about 45 degrees first – yes, it is
always possible to add your Bentonite saturated slurry to
room temperature wine, but to improve the wine
clarification you can cool your wine beforehand so that
better results are obtained.
When you add the slurry to the cooled wine
itself, it is not advisable to agitate your wine liquid.
Rather, simply mix in the Bentonite saturated slurry well
into the wine liquid until it is well dispersed into the
wine.
You may then mix the wine that has Bentonite
added to it several times afterwards, so that the
Bentonite gains time to “suck in” the particles to itself
with its static electricity prior to settling at the
bottom of the container. It is recommended you stir the
wine with Bentonite in it once every hour for one
evening.
The good news about this is that your wine
becomes more drinkable when as many unwanted particles as
possible are eliminated from the final
product.
Do Racking
After Adding Bentonite to Your Homemade
Wine
We know that racking is the process when we try
to remove sediments from our wine liquid. Though it is
inadvisable to do racking too often, it is necessary to
do racking twice when we use the Bentonite as our
clarifier. The first time should be done prior to adding
the Bentonite saturated slurry to induce wine
clarification. The second and last time should be done
when we know that the Bentonite has done its job at wine
clarification and we need to remove the accumulated
sediments.
Never do too many racking because more racking
does not produce better wine. Rather, too many rackings
will induce heightened oxygenation of your wine and make
the wine flavor quality decrease too. The two rackings
indicated here are sufficient to remove the sediments
that resulted when protein-based particles adhered to the
Bentonite solution you added to your wine.
It is also inadvisable to do racking too much
because you waste some wine liquid that way. Use
Bentonite right and you will wind up with much clearer
and even better tasting wine afterwards.
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