Fining Wine

Definition: Fining wine is the process of removing larger, suspended particles from the wine to clarify the juice before bottling. Basically, a fining agent (egg whites, gelatin, casein) is mixed into the wine and allowed to bond with the suspended particulates (which could be anything from proteins, dead yeast, residual pieces of grape skins or stems that would increase tannin levels). These larger molecules get heavier as they attract more matter and will drop to the bottom of the tank for easier removal.