The impact of enological products for tartaric stabilization on wine filterability

The aim of this research was to evaluate the impact of most commonly used agents for tartaric stabilization of wine, such as metatartaric acid, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), mannoproteins and gum arabic, on the filterability of white, rose and red wine previously pre-filtered and prepared for the final filtration and bottling. Wine filterability after sweetening with rectified concentrated must was also assessed. The experiments were carried out using Quality Filterability Test and the obtained results were expressed through filterability index (FI), and maximum filterable volume (Vmax). The results confirmed that used enological agents for the inhibition of tartaric instabilities generally did not worsen the filterability of white and rose wine (FI<20). However, it was evident that products containing mannoproteins and metatartaric acid considerably reduced red wine filterability (FI>500). The correlation between white and rose wine turbidity and filterability was recorded in the trials but the same trend was not registered for the red wine. The results of this study are important since membrane (final) filtration of improperly prepared wine characterized by low filterability can both increase the costs and lead to hold up on the bottling line.