Troubleshooting Visual Defects in Wine Kits

The old truism of the commercial wine industry is that people drink with their eyes first. This is natural since you’ll see your glass as it’s coming to your lips. No matter how a wine tastes, if it’s hazy, cloudy or (even worse!) lumpy, it’s not going to please the drinker. Wines made from kits go through the entire winemaking process, from yeast pitching to bottling, in a condensed timeframe, almost always less than two months, which requires a strict regimen of degassing, finings and rackings, a regimen that has to be followed closely to be successful. Even though the winemakers at the kit companies devote numerous experimental trials to ensure the best fining/clarification possible, it doesn’t always work out, either due to environmental factors, product issues, or user input (aka, goof-ups). When your wine won’t clear on time, here are the things to look for so you can bottle delicious, diamond-bright wine. What not to do, ever First, don’t bottle cloudy wine. It won’t clear in the bottle, and any extra treatment to clear it up will require you