What are the white crystalloid things in my wine?

Question

I've just bought a new brand of wine, one bottle white and one bottle red. I invited my friends, we opened them and started to drink, but after a while we noticed that there were white crystals (like salt crystals) in the wine. We took a closer look, and they were solid, tasteless and odourless.

Answer 1

They're probably crystals of tartaric acid, which is naturally found in wine. They're completely harmless.

They can be found in a variety of wines, but especially in those that have not been "cold stabilized" in the winery prior to bottling. Upon chilling the wine, the crystals are more likely to precipitate out.

Answer 2

Your wine with crystals in it is perfect.The wine has tartaric acid and does nothing to hurt you OR the wine caused by a wine not being 'cold stabilized':

Cold stabilization is a process used in winemaking to reduce tartrate crystals (generally potassium bitartrate) in wine. These tartrate crystals look like grains of clear sand, and are also known as "wine crystals" or "wine diamonds". They may appear to be sediment in the wine, but they are not.

Cold stabilizing is the process of dropping the temperature of the wine, after fermentation, to close to freezing for 1-2 weeks. This will cause the crystals to separate from the wine and stick to the sides of the holding vessel. When the wine is drained from the vessels, the tartrates are left behind.

Answer 3

I asked a wine store clerk about this once, and he told me what Amuse Bouche said, that they were just acid crystals, and that they're harmless, and they can precipitate out if the wine is chilled. In my case, it was a bottle of white wine. I don't think I've seen it in a red, but then again I guess I've never chilled a red.

Answer 4

It can also form when the bottle is not sealed properly.

Answer 5

maybe sulfites.