Wine Diamonds, Cold Crashing, and Mead.

[PitBull]

I recently bottled this year's version of Lake Erie region Niagara Grape Wine. As usual, the wine dropped some "diamonds" (tartaric acid crystals) during the five month process. The wine was extremely clear prior to the last racking, but I still filtered it before stabilizing and back sweetening.

However, this year the wine dropped a lot of large diamonds after back sweetening. It posed no problem as they were dense and easy to avoid when bottling. The little wine left in the carboy (which we consumed that day) was laden with diamonds which were easily removed with a coffee filter.

I did not cold cash (cold stabilize) the wine to get the diamonds to drop, as is typically done in U.S. wineries. When I researched cold stabilization, I found quite a few articles (like this one) that stated: "... as some winemakers put it, the wine is actually being ripped apart, and the rapid cooling changes the wine's colloidal structure. One might call it a clear case of style over substance."

Of course, mead does not have the large amount of tartaric acid that is common to grape wines. But are there any ill effects, (i.e. "structural changes") on mead from cold crashing to get it to clear?

 

[Medsen Fey]

I do not believe so.

I also do not agree with the statement that cold stabilization rips apart the wine's structure. What it does is precipitate out potassium bitartrate crystals. Now this does have an effect on pH. If the pH is below 3.6, it tends to lower the pH even further. If the pH is above 3.6 it tends to raise the pH even higher. The change in pH created in wine by the cold stabilization may have a significant effect on the precipitation of proteins and such, and the change in pH (and decrease in TA from removing the bitartrate) may have some impact on the flavor. In an overly acidic wine, this can be very helpful in reducing that acidity and improving the flavor. So the effect on wine will be dependent on the character of the wine. Also, whether the bitartrate is precipitated before bottling, or whether it occurs in the bottle, the result on the chemical composition of the wine will be the same.

With meads, in general there is virtually no tartaric acid except in pyments, hawthorn berry mels, and tamarind mels, or in cases where cream of tartar or tartaric acid (blends) have been added. Even in those cases, the amount of bitartrate tends to be low enough that cold stabilization (or cold crashing) does not cause precipitation of bitartrate. Since you don't get the precipitation, you don't get the shifts in pH and acidity that wines get, and thus it will not "rip apart the structure." I find that anything that precipitates out more sediment generally improves the flavor/body/smoothness of the mead.

 

[PitBull]

Thanks for the info.

That "clears things up" (bad pun intended) quite a bit. Quite a few of those articles stated that, in Europe, many consider the crystals a sign of quality.

I currently do not have a 'fridge (or the space) available for cold crashing, so I've been using fining and filtering. But there's a good chance that we'll be moving within the year and a larger basement might very well merit the purchase of a gently-used refrigerator.

 

[TheAlchemist]

Love the signature, PitBull.

Age does improve w/ mead...

 

[IanB]

hmmm

For what it's worth, I cold crashed 650 gallons at Isaaks of Salem, and honestly, I think the mead tasted better after the process than before. My ph was 3.4 when I crashed, and honestly, I haven't taken another PH reading. I think the crashing (when done over a 5 week period) is completely fine on the wine. If you think back to what was available in middle-ages Europe for making mead, this was one of the 'natural' techniques when winter came and the mead was in barrels. Even a deep cellar will drop down 5-10 degree's in the winter time.

I consider the cold stabilization to be part of the process, and haven't had any negative effects (actually quite the opposite)

Ian