? Sediment in White Wine

[montepaulsen]

Generally, if the sediment is tartrate, it will sink to the bottom. Occasionally they can form a slight frost of particles at the top, but they generally crystalize (they are indeed crystals) first on the edge of the glass (where they have material available for nucleation, which just means they need solid surfaces in order to "grow" on), and toward the bottom of the bottle (where it is cooler). Regardless of where they form, if you shake the bottle slightly, those floating on top will break the surface tension, and then sink. If they still float, they are probably not tartrates. They could be cork dust, or carton dust (empty bottles are often transported in the carton, so it is possible to get carton dust in them before they are filled).

You can also try eating the particles, if you are brave. Bite into the particles - if they are gritty and remind you of ground glass (they are not harmful, unless it really IS ground glass, which is unlikely), then it is probably tartrate. If it is chewy instead, you've got your self some sort of cork or cardboard material.

Either that, or the Sissy Wine Faeries tossed something funny into the wine vat...