is unfiltered wine safe?

No I don’t mean for human consumption, but rather safe for stability in the bottle. At my previous winery we would spend a ridiculous amount of time, water, energy, and money filtering to get to sterile in the bottle. We did not use So2 so sterile filtering was necessary. Now that I have learned more about SO2 I am happy to use it with good monitoring. I don’t plan on shipping my wines any farther then my state. Can I feel confident in our bottled wine with out sterile filtration? By the way I’m in Montana so mobile crossflow companies are not an option.


Great strait forward article on sulfites- http://waterhouse.ucdavis.edu/whats-in-wine/sulfites-in-wine

Thanks

Casey,

Is the wine completely dry or does it contain residual sugar? Has the wine gone through malolactic fermentation? What is the pH of the wine? How many mg per liter SO2 did you add? What it a clean harvest or was there a lot of rot?

What kind of wine is it?

Cheers,
Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the response. I am mostly interested in making dry reds and some dry whites all with completed ML. As far as pH is concerned this of course will depend on ripeness and how well i can manage acidity. Which I have been able to adjust in the past. SO2 on the other hand is some what new to me since the winery I have been at for the last 10 years didn’t add any. But I plan use it and have good testing to ensure the proper dose. Given that you had complete ML, good pH,and a proper dose of SO2 could you safely make a unfiltered wine with some residual sugar?
Thanks,
Casey

as long as you hit it with your molecular kill it should be fine in theory. Nothing is absolute, however. Not even filtering.

I would send samples off to ETS for scorpions testing prior to bottling – if only for peace of mind.

Molecular Kill? do you mean a proper amount of molecular sulfer?

I was hoping to a void buying the filtering equipment and just go unfiltered. Those scorpions are expensive, but probably better to know before you have cases and cases of funky wine. Cheers!

I wouldn’t bottle any wine with significant residual sugar without filtration (unless you’re willing to over-dose on the SO2.) Red wine that was harvested clean has next to zero sugar, has gone through malo, has a lowish pH (say under 3,4) and preferably has seen extended aging in barrel should be okay with relatively low free sulfur (<40 mg/l easily). The same goes for dry white wine, with the caveat that unfiltered wine is going to have a little haze. If you’re ok with that, don’t filter. A lot depends upon the style you’re looking for and the varieties that you use.

Cheers,
Bill

Btw, Casey: Where are you in MT? I went to school in Missoula. How are the local wines turning out?

Cheers,
Bill

The scorpions are expensive and with every penny. I would never bottle unfiltered with out running them. For many vintages I ran them 3 times over the barrel aging process to monitor if they are stable, increasing, or decreasing. After a few years of results of none detected or or <10 cells I trust the vineyard and winery protocols are working to keep things super clean.

I know of a producer who lost there winery due to a vintage of wine that grew spoilage organisms post release and had to be recalled to the winery and put down the drain. Not how I want to go out over a $140 test. I don’t like to filter though would if the wine required it.

Its pretty easy to get clean wine without haze I even do it with barrel fermented Semillion every year. I don’t rack during aging other than to barrel after pressing and to tank prior to bottling. I single stack the barrels 3-4 months prior to racking to the bottling tank as well as setting the racking wand to be 2-3" off the bottom of the barrel. I have found that most additives that are in power form don’t like to fall out of solution very well and are what produce the haze. Yeast/lees settle out via gravity quite easily. I don’t add anything but so2 so that not an issue for me now but I have had hazy wines in the past on lots that needed an intervention with nutrients n such.

Bill,
Thanks for all the great input on my quandary. I’m in Missoula and the local wines are getting better every year but they still have a way to go. I hope to contribute to the improvement of the local selection and quality. Cheers!

Casey

Joe,
Thanks so much for a thorough response. I have been convinced of the power of scorpion tests! I cant believe you do so little racking. Do you get a heavy sur lie type of wine from all that lees contact? Do you use fining agents? Cheers!
Casey

I don’t get a whole lot of lees in the barrel. I let the Pinot Noir ferment until cap fall so a lot of the initial lees settle to the bottom of the Tbin. The ferment does not finish in barrel creating more lees there as I know lots of folks like to press off sweet and finish in barrel. We also use a basket press which gives much cleaner press juice than bladder or membrane. I do settle overnight in tank post pressing prior to barreling down so some will settle out there as well. I do not stir the lees or move the barrels much at so all the solids seem to settle out real easy. No additives but so2 when malo is done adjusted thru bottling.

For the Semillion is is fermented in barrel and stays on the gross lees the entire time with no stirring or moving of the barrels. I rack it clean to tank a day or 2 prior to bottling and it comes out a brilliant crystal clear wine at the end. No additives but so2 when malo is done and adjusted thru bottling.

Wild/Wild/Un/Un is how I describe the wine making in short, wild yeast, wild malo, unfinned, unfiltered.

Joe,
Have you had ever wine go bad due to your Wild/Wild/Un/Un winemaking ways?

What varieties are you growing in Montana?

Well the vineyard that I managed for the last ten years grew frontnac, leon millot, foch, st.pepin all are either french/american hybrids or american varieties. They were good for what they are but limit the kinds of wine you can make. For my new venture we will be buying in grapes from mostly OR. and WA.

Not as of yet. 100+ individual bottlings in 10 vintages of winemaking. Mostly low pH, high acid Pinot Noirs with proper so2 additions. Good reliable clean vineyards and a germaphobe clean winery I think also help.

Love the skiing in MT never had any wines or heard of those varietals. Will be on the look out next trip out that way.