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Clarifying and Stabilizing The Wine

After wrapping up the decorating it was time to add stabilizers and clarifiers to the pinot grigio.  This also involved degassing the wine using an electric drill and a degassing tool.  I wasn’t sure how it would all work but I put the tool into the drill, stuck it into the carboy and pulled the trigger.  It seemed to be mixing OK but the instructions made it clear I had to get all the sediment off the bottom so I pumped up the volume and began to see white bubbles rising up in the carboy.  This was a good thing, right?  Actually I quickly learned I’d created a volcano and foam began to pour out the top and onto the floor!  I stopped mixing and shortly thereafter, just like a shaken bottle of beer, the foaming subsided.

After cleaning up the mess and congratulating myself on a wise choice selecting tile for the kitchen floor, I added the remaining clarifying agent and started up the degassing tool once again with a bit less gusto than before.  It worked like a charm and after another couple of minutes of whipping the wine I put the air lock back on and set it aside.  My wine is now ready for a 2-3 week nap to clarify before bottling.