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WINEMAKING Pricing of these products and services varies both with the volume of wine being treated and with the level of tartrate instability that has to be dealt with. Cost comparisons quickly get convoluted, with differences showing up in the amount of testing and monitoring required, how many people need to be involved doing what, electricity rate fluctuations, and so on. But for a ballpark figure, all of the "filtration" methodologies and both of the mannoprotein products work out to around 25 cents per gallon; the CMC products, with more limited applications, are quite a bit cheaper. None of these alternatives to traditional cold stabilization runs on autopilot—just turn on the machine or open the jug. All require careful analysis before and after to estimate the degree of potential instability and how thoroughly it has been dealt with. (On the testing side of its business, Enartis Vinquiry has developed a new wine analysis panel, an alternative to standard electrical conductivity testing that calculates the amount of bitartrate reduction needed and how that will affect pH and acidity.) Using either the filtration technologies or the additive products, attention has to be paid to timing, filterability of the wine before and after and other processing details. By comparison, simply putting a batch of wine in a tank and chilling it for two weeks is downright simple. Sensory trials and anecdotal testimony from winemakers suggest the new waves of tartrate fixes do less damage to wines. And—I know you were waiting for this part—none of these alternatives is a magic bullet that is foolproof and suitable for all occasions. As with anything else in Winedom, the effectiveness of a given treatment depends on the unique composition of the wine in question. CMC products present complications for red wines, requiring either a different product or separate treatments to stabilize pigment. Oenobrands recommends Claristar for white and pink wines, and it is working on a variation for reds. While the mannoproteins work well to prevent potassium bitartrate problems, they do not address calcium tartrates, which can rise to problematic levels in wines that go through deacidification. Jose Santos of Enartis Vinquiry offered some useful perspective. There are, he noted, lots of wineries out there with substantial capital investment in chillable tanks, and expecting them to simply jettison the old ways tomorrow is unrealistic. In many cases, the best solution to the tartrate problem is not a single treatment but a combination: chill wine for a few days, for example, to knock out some of the tartrates, then disable the rest with a CMC/gum arabic product; or do the main work with electrodialysis, then add a pinch of a crystal disrupter just before bottling as insurance. As always, nothing is simple, but sensory trials and anecdotal testimony from winemakers suggest the new waves of tartrate fixes do less damage to wines, validating the underlying chemical story, which is that less stuff is being taken out than by the old wave. The products and methods may not seem quite as "natural" as those freezing yet romantic caves in Burgundy, but the wines are more intact. Tim Patterson is the author of "Home Winemaking for Dummies." He writes about wine and makes his own in Berkeley, Calif. Years of experience as a journalist, combined with a contrarian streak, make him interested in getting to the bottom of wine stories, casting a critical eye on conventional wisdom in the process. 52 Wines & Vines APRiL 2012