Clarification

(See also: Filtration, Fining)

At the end of alcoholic fermentation it looks more like milk than wine! Then the inactive yeast slowly sinks to the bottom of the cask and the process of clarification begins. It takes at least some months to get to a crystal clear wine in the bottle if you don’t want to strip the wine of some of its positive aromas along the way. At least it will be crystal clear if you pour a wine from a traditional wine producer like Gut Hermannsberg, rather than one from a natural wine producer who deliberately bottles cloudy unfiltered and unfined wine. Filtration mechanically removes suspended particles from the wine, while Fining does this and also takes out some substances in solution. When they have been well used by the winemaker then the aromas and flavors of the wine will seem to sparkle like a well-polished piece of Lalique crystal standing in a ray of sunlight.