Red wine bottle deposits, II: Cold stabilisation is an effective procedure to prevent deposit formation

Abstract

Cold stabilisation by storage of red wines either at ‐4°C for 1–5 days or at 2°C for up to 14 days, and then removal of the precipitate induced at the low temperature, was found to be a successful procedure to prevent the formation of bottle deposits. Supernatant wine after the cold stabilisation has a greatly reduced potential to form bottle deposits, as assessed by a predictive assay procedure and confirmed by a six‐month storage test at room temperature. Protein and solid‐state NMR spectral analyses indicated that the precipitate formed during cold stabilisation was similar in composition to that of the bottle deposits. Since a considerable amount of pigment was associated with the precipitate, cold stabilisation reduced colour density of treated red wines. The treatment did not significantly affect the aroma and palate of a red wine.