Also what I use. Like some others I dont plan weeks in advance for most wines – so would rather filter and not worry about getting a mouthful of sand at the end!
Maybe they don´t “sound” better … but they taste better!
If you have to serve 16 glasses for a high-class tasting you will think differently … not amusing to have cloudy wine to taste …
Maybe I wasn’t clear: if you stand the bottles up ahead of time you won’t end up with cloudy wine
On one hand it depends on the type of wine and it´s age, on the other hand it´s nearly impossible to serve the last 5-10% without sediment if you don´t apply any method of filtering (and my bottles usually are standing up for several weeks).
That´s maybe no big issue for 2-5 people, but definitely a waste for a group of 15-16 tasters …
I arrange tastings with 13-15 tasters all the time and I never would think of filtering a wine through anything, except maybe for a fine metal mesh sieve in the off chance a cork crumbles. Letting the bottles stand up and decanting them with a steady hand has always been more than enough for me - and I definitely don’t serve cloudy wines (unless it’s a natural wine tasting!).
There are big differences depending on grape type. (Ever notice how syrah or Port sediment crusts on the side of a bottle? I rarely see that in any other kind of wine.)
What are you guys typically drinking, and at what age?
I’m usually not bothered by a bit of sediment in mature cabernet/Bordeaux or syrah/Northern Rhone, but I’ve had the misfortune of being served old Burgundies that people have carted to events without decanting, and the cloudy sediment has made them unpleasantly astringent.
Nebbiolo is the worst. You absolutely do not want any cloudiness in Barolo or Barbaresco, because that sediment is nasty. I can’t imagine anyone saying they’d be happy to drink nebbiolo cloudy with sediment.
It’s a more complicated issue than what filter to use. (I use the non-bleach white coffee filters; the unbleached have a woody aftertaste sometimes.)
All sediment is not the same; some are pieces of skin left in on purpose. Others can be from tannins precipitating out with age. (They are undesirable , as they are , IMO, distracting.)
Standing a bottle up works…as long as your hand is perfectly steady and all pouring is done in one fell swoop…ie, one motion for the whole bottle. Otherwise , the sediment gets reincorporated, negating the weeks/days of using gravity to create a clean wine.
To avoid these risks, I take a non-chemically bleached white coffee filter and use a stainless steel funnel. Looking at the sediment in the used filter gives me comfort that I’ve done a reasonable job of “cleaning” the wine…and don’t have to leave a portion in the bottom…assuming that my handling leaves the sediment there, as opposed to reincorporated.
FWIW
I always stand the wine up for at least a couple of days, and then decant using cheesecloth sitting in a fine mesh strainer, sitting in a funnel. Then decant back into the bottle if traveling with it, only using the funnel.
I’ve never had any type of coffee filter work because the wine takes forever to get through the filter.
If the bottle stood up for several days the wine is usually 90+% clear - so there is only need to filter the last 10-5 % … through whatever, that takes no more than a minute.
It´s funny: we have given and read a couple of well though methods for serving a clean wine.
Most of us drink enough wine to be able to simply try it out … what works best … can be different for different persons.
But still there are some postings … "no need to … " - “I´ve never …” “I don´t bother …” “It´s complicated …” etc.
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(take it or leave it)
I still filter with cheesecloth to make sure I don’t let anything through as I get near the bottom of the bottle when decanting. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, table wine’s sediment generally is pretty fine. Port on the other hand is big and chunky, so if the bottle has stood up for a while, it’s pretty easy to decant without getting any sediment accidentally flowing down the neck.