Darin wrote (with respect to 0.5gm/liter bentonite useage)>> Pp
> Thanks. Your right of course - it was a high-end dose. I did trials
> with 1/2 g/L and 1 g/L at room temperature. 1/2g wasn't sufficient.
>
> My understanding is that over-fining with bentonite can strip flavour
> and leave an earthy smell to the wine. Fortunately, that was not the
> case for me.

Darin, Pp and others; I don't think Darin's 0.5gm/liter (about the same as
2 grams/gallon) is over use of bentonite. In the past I've used 2
grams/gallon bentonite on my white wines. This was on the advise of my
mentor ten years ago. The last couple of years I reduced the dose to 0.5
grams/gallon on the advise of a yeast company person. My wines had a chill
haze and I thought it was due to the reserve juice I added to sweeten the
wines (Vidal, Vignoles). Same thing this year on a dry Vidal. So, I
returned the wine to a carboy, added 2 grams/gallon bentonite (hydrated),
waited a couple of weeks to clear and bottled again. Now, the Vidal does
not develop a haze when chilled. Also, I don't notice an earthy smell or
taste. In fact the wine now tastes better (very subjective) than before.

If you have enough wine to do tests of different amounts of fining agents
that's the way to go. But for my normal 5 to 10 gallons of wine there just
is not enough to allow these experiments. Go with what works.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA