Wineries can and do add a step in processing called cold stabilization. Here, they chill the wine down to near freezing, causing the tartrates to precipitate out. Then they filter the wine to eliminate them.

The higher quality a wine is, the more likely it is to have tartrates. This is because good wines are not cold stabilized, filtered or over processed, in order to preserve the intricacies and subtle character of the wine.

If you’ve ever seen these tartrates, you may have wondered what to do about them. Well, one thing you can do is absolutely nothing. Tartrates are completely tasteless, odorless and harmless, so there’s nothing you really have to do. However, if you don’t like having these little crystals floating at the bottom of your wine glass you can simply decant your white wine as you would an older red using a funnel with a screen. Our own aerating funnel with screen is a great example. It may seem odd to filter a white wine, but that’s the one sure way to eliminate tartrates.

Do tartrates bother you? Leave a comment, and let us know!