What is tartrate removal in wine

Why Do Tartrates in Wine Form? What Methods are Used to Remove Tartrates? Do Tartrates Affect the Quality of the Wine? Connect with me. Follow Us. Our Journey. Join Our Mailing List. Others say these diamonds remove some acid from the juice. Tartaric acid typically is synthesized by plants. It is found in the skim and outer flesh of grapes. It can be extracted when berries are crushed and pressed, according to Valorization of Wine Making By-Products , edited by Matteo Bordiga.

Higher amounts of tartrates are expected from grapes grown in cooler climates, which naturally have a higher acid level. The fermentation process makes potassium bitartrate precipitate, forming crystals. Calcium tartrate usually occurs in wine when and if calcium carbonate is used for deacidification.

Tartrate Crystals are a natural product of the wine. They form when the wine gets too cold. Rather than rely on a consumer to decant or filter a fine vintage wine, some vintners opt to stabilize wines before bottling.

Cold Stabilization: negative effects on wine Some winemakers choose to cold stabilize their wines to eliminate the future formation of tartrate crystals. Cold stabilization is the process of cooling the wine to around freezing temperatures in large stainless steel tanks for several days or weeks after the wine has aged and just before bottling.

By cooling the wine prior to bottling, the potassium bitartrates will crystalize and drop to the bottom of the tank where they can then be filtered out of the wine. By doing this, the winemaker is ensuring that further tartrate crystals do not form in the bottle mainly for aesthetics reasons.

Stonestreet wines are meticulously produced to ensure that each wine reflects the uniqueness of its terroir while remaining perfectly balanced — ready for your wine glass. How to avoid tartrate crystals Proper wine storage will help reduce the formation of tartrates. Quality white wines should be stored on their side at 55 to 60 degrees and only chilled to 45 to 48 degrees depending on the varietal just prior to serving to avoid the development of tartrate crystals.

In , we chose to ignore them. Though the resulting wines were beautiful, among the highest rated wines in Livermore Valley that year, we had to hand-sell them from our tasting room. At least for us, ignoring tartrates is no longer an option.

That is why we have returned to removing them. In factory wineries, tartrate removal can be done by passing the wine through a cation exchange resin like a water softener for tartrates. With chilling, the tartrates fall out of solution.

Then, the wine is racked and bottled. First, it is a huge contributor to our carbon footprint since it requires a large amount of energy to refrigerate the wine.