Using Bentonite to clear Nectarine Wine

[wayne]

Hi all, could anyone enlighten me on the ratio to use for bentonite. I have 1 gallon of nectarine wine and would like to see how good bentonite is. How much bentonite mixed with what qty of water? What should it look like? Thanks in advance.

[lockwood1956]

Bentonite is a fining agent and will drop suspended solids out of the wine, add it at a rate of 1 tsp per gallon dissolved in a little warm water

but stoned fruits contain pectin.....which if not treated will cause a pectin haze that bentonite will not remove...

did you add pectolase at the start, and at what rate?

did you use hot or boiling water at any stage of the process?

regards
bob

[wayne]

Hi bob,
I think I used hot water for the sugar (have now stopped doing this and just adding sugar directly to the must). I added 2 tsp pectolase. It was finished and put in the attic about 2 months ago, but after reading on this site forgot to put a cambden tablet in on last racking, also the demi's were only just over 3/4 full (another no no i learned on this site). So not wanting to run the risk of ruining them I brought the nectarine and a few others down and started to rectify. The nactarine was quite clear (not sparkly, just enough to see through). When I added the cambden it went worse than before. From also reading this forum I was beginning to think I hadn't de gassed thoroughly so did that again too (with my homemade drill whizzer). After a day or to the wine was still the same so I conducted 2 experiments, I added 2 teaspoons of pectolase to the nectarine and left and also added two teaspoons of pectolase to my plum with raisins as well as parts a and b finings. The plum settled and cleared quickly (not great clarity but good, another dosage of finings maybe!!). The nectarine how ever stayed the same, I did not add finings because i wanted to see the difference bentonite makes so I made a solution with 1 teaspoon and about 50ml of water, stirred and when cool added to the nectarine. The bentonite worked quickly and in no time there were more deposits on the bottom than before. I racked the wine and again it's clear just not crystal, i am thinking now of putting them back in the attic (I have sourced smaller bottles, so one demi will be full and the remainder will be in smaller bottles) and leaving them for a couple of months.

Regards
wayne