What is sediment in wine?

Quick answer

Sediment in wine is solid material that has fallen out of suspension and settled, usually at the bottom of a bottle. It can form during winemaking, maturation, storage or bottle ageing.

In a red wine, sediment may include grape solids, yeast or lees, and compounds involving colour and tannins that gradually combine and precipitate as the wine ages. Sediment is not automatically a sign that anything has gone wrong. However, it can make a wine look cloudy or feel gritty if it is poured into the glass.

Sediment may be more noticeable in an aged red wine, or in a wine that has had limited fining or filtration. That does not mean every unfiltered wine contains sediment, or that sediment proves a wine is old, better quality or more “natural”.

What does wine sediment look like?

Sediment is often dark, reddish-brown or cloudy in red wine. It may be fine and powdery, or form a visible layer at the bottom of the bottle. It can contain more than one type of material, so colour and texture are useful clues rather than a definite identification test.

Pale, clear or whitish crystals may be tartrate crystals. These are wine salts, most commonly potassium hydrogen tartrate and sometimes calcium tartrate. They can look like grains of sand, sugar or tiny fragments of glass, particularly in white wine. Appearance alone cannot establish that an unfamiliar particle is a tartrate rather than foreign material.

Lees are another related term. Lees are settled solids associated especially with fermentation and wine storage, and commonly include yeast cells. Lees can contribute to sediment, but the two words are not exact synonyms: sediment is the broader term for solid material found settled in a finished wine or bottle.

Is sediment in wine a fault?

Usually, ordinary sediment is not considered a fault. It is a physical deposit rather than a description of the wine’s aroma or flavour. Some sediment can taste gritty or slightly bitter, which is why it is often left behind when the wine is served.

Sediment also does not rule out a separate wine fault. A wine can contain harmless sediment and still have an unpleasant smell or flavour. Conversely, a cloudy appearance does not, by itself, prove that wine is spoiled.

If you suspect glass, mould, contamination, damaged packaging or another clearly abnormal foreign object, do not treat it as ordinary wine sediment. Appearance alone cannot reliably identify every deposit.

How do you serve wine with sediment?

Handle the bottle gently so you do not stir the deposit back into the wine. For a heavily settled bottle, stand it upright before serving so the sediment can collect at the bottom.

When you are ready to pour:

1. Open the bottle carefully.
2. Pour slowly into a clean decanter or glass.
3. Hold a light behind the bottle neck if it helps you see the sediment moving towards it.
4. Stop pouring when the deposit reaches the neck or the wine becomes visibly cloudy.
5. Leave the final sediment-containing portion in the bottle.

Decanting is optional. In this situation, its main purpose is to separate clearer wine from settled material, not to guarantee that the wine will taste better.

Frequently asked questions

Should you drink wine containing sediment?

Ordinary wine sediment and tartrate deposits are generally treated as appearance or texture issues rather than wine faults. However, an unknown particle cannot be identified confidently from sight alone. Do not consume the wine if you suspect contamination, mould, glass, damaged packaging or another foreign object; return it to the retailer or contact the producer.

Does sediment mean a wine is old?

No. Ageing can create sediment, especially in red wine, but young wines with limited filtration or fining can also contain visible solids.

Does sediment mean a wine is unfiltered?

Not necessarily. Limited filtration can make sediment more likely, but the presence of sediment does not prove how a wine was made.

Can you remove sediment without decanting?

Yes. If the bottle has been standing upright, you can pour slowly and leave the final cloudy portion behind. Decanting simply makes the separation easier to control.