🍷 Cold stabilisation
Wine is kept near freezing so tartrate crystals drop out before bottling.
Cold stabilisation is a winemaking step: finished wine is chilled to near freezing for several days or weeks. The aim is to get rid of tartrates before bottling.
Tartrates are tiny crystals of salts of tartaric acid. They are harmless, but in a bottle they look like sediment or glass grit, and that worries buyers. In the cold the crystals drop to the bottom of the tank, and then the wine is carefully racked and filtered.
The wine is kept in a cold room or in cooled tanks. The method is simple but uses energy. It is used mostly for white and rosé wines, which are served chilled. A similar idea appears with other foods: milk is chilled so it does not sour, wine so that sediment drops out.
After this treatment the wine stays clear even if the bottle is put in a refrigerator.
Links
- Next step
- 🥃 Wine diamonds (tartrates)
- What affects it
- 🥃 Wine diamonds (tartrates)
- Part of
- 🍷 Wine
- Wine and milk
- ❄️ Cooling, 🧊 Cold room
Frequently asked questions
What is cold stabilisation of wine?
Chilling wine near freezing so that tartrates drop out before bottling.
Why is cold stabilisation needed?
So that tartrate crystals do not appear in the bottle, especially in the fridge.
Are tartrate crystals dangerous?
No, they are harmless, but they look like sediment.
Similar
🍷 Fortification · 🍷 Dealcoholisation · 🍷 Carbonation · 🍷 Continuous method · 🍷 Secondary fermentation · 🍷 Cuvée