Clarification and stabilization of wine
In winemaking, clarification and stabilization are the processes by which insoluble matter suspended in the wine is removed before bottling. This matter may include dead yeast cells (lees), bacteria, tartrates, proteins, pectins, various tannins and other phenolic compounds, as well as pieces of grape skin, pulp, stems and gums. Clarification and stabilization may involve fining, filtration, centrifugation, flotation, refrigeration, pasteurization, and/or barrel maturation and racking.
The winemaking process naturally produces sediments that can precipitate out of the wine.
Natural clarification takes place as wine ages in barrel, its suspended particles gradually falling to the bottom.
Diatomaceous earth, often used in depth filtration
Cold stabilization causes tartrates to crystallize and precipitate out of the wine.
Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. There is evidence that suggests that the earliest wine production took place in Georgia and Iran around 6000 to 5000 B.C. The science of wine and winemaking is known as oenology. A winemaker may also be called a vintner. The growing of grapes is viticulture and there are many varieties of grapes.
Wine grapes from the Guadalupe Valley in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Vineyards in Italy
Harvested Cabernet Sauvignon grapes
A mechanical destemming machine in use at Chateau Montelena winery in Napa Valley