Winemaking Tutorial - Lesson Six

Stabilizing and Clearing

Now that your wine has completed secondary fermentation (SG below 1.000), let's put in the rest of the additives that are found in our wine kit.

At this point in our tutorial, there is a radical difference between the Wine-Art kits and the Spagnol kits.

If you have a Wine-Art kit, follow this link and ignore the rest of this page. We'll meet up with you again in our next lesson, bottling and corking.

Otherwise, if you have a Spagnol wine kit (Cellar Classic or Vino Del Vida), please continue below.

  1. Ensure your SG is below 1.000 before continuing.
    NOTE for makers of Cellar Classic Barolo and Shiraz kits only: Your wine will have a final SG between 1.000 and 1.004. This is normal. If your Barolo or Shiraz is within this range, you may proceed.
  2. Sanitize and rinse the siphon rod, siphon hose, primary fermenter, measuring cup and spoon.
  3. Carefully rack your wine from the carboy to the primary fermenter.
  4. Add the sulphite package (red bag) to the primary fermenter and stir until dissolved.
  5. Add the sorbate package (blue bag) to the primary fermenter and stir until dissolved.
    NOTE: If your wine kit includes a finishing blend or sweetening blend, please refer to label instructions and add now.
  6. Slowly stir bentonite (white bag) into 250 ml (1 cup) of hot tap water. Stir until well dispersed.
  7. Add bentonite solution to the wine. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes.
  8. Wait 15 minutes and again stir vigorously for 2 minutes. Stirring helps drive off the CO2 gas that may be trapped in the wine as a result of fermentation. It also ensures the thorough dispersal of the bentonite.
  9. Repeat step 8 twice more.
  10. Pour gelatin into the wine and stir vigorously for 1 minute. If you are making a red wine, go to step 12 now.
  11. For white and blush wines only: Pour kieselsol into the wine and stir vigorously for 1 minute.
  12. Rack your wine from the primary fermenter to a clean, sanitized and rinsed carboy.
  13. Top up the carboy with a similar wine or cooled, boiled water.
  14. Place the carboy in a cool area (15-19oC/60-68oF). Raise the carboy to an elevated position to avoid disturbing the sediment the next time you rack.
  15. Fill the airlock half-way with water. Attach the bung and airlock to the mouth of the carboy. Ensure the level of liquid is within 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) of the bottom of the bung.
  16. The wine will begin to clear over the following week, leaving sediment on the bottom of the carboy. After seven days of clearing, rack the wine to another sanitized and rinsed carboy, top it up, and attach the airlock and bung.
  17. Allow the wine to sit another ten days to finish clearing, ensuring the carboy is in a cool area (15-19oC/60-68oF) as before.

 

In the next lesson, we'll do one final racking and then bottle our wine.

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