What to Do with Wine Sediment

Wine sediment is the solid substance that you sometimes see at the bottom of a wine bottle or glass.

It is made up of different solid particles involved in the wine making process called dregs.

The sediment is evidence of an aged wine and usually means that the wine has not been filtered. This does not in any way mean that the wine is bad or has gone off: in fact, wine that has sediment in the bottle is often quite good.

The question of what to do with wine sediment has a very simple answer: remove it.

Wine sediment is not harmful, but it is unpleasant to drink, both to the eye and to the palate. For this reason, wine sediment should be removed from the bottle before serving your wine.

In order to get rid of it, decant your wine into a decanter. The wine will flow from the bottle, and the sediment will remain; stop pouring when you see the sediment start to flow to the neck of the bottle. You can then serve the wine into glasses from the decanter.

Surprisingly, and unbeknownst to many, wine sediment is not only not harmful, it can actually be beneficial.

The dregs produced during wine making are rich in antioxidants, and these antioxidants can be found in the sediment in your wine bottle. Wine sediment can be antibacterial as well as being a disinfectant, so when considering what to do with wine sediment, bear this in mind.

Sediment is not pleasant to ingest: it is very strong and bitter in flavor. However, sediment can be used on the skin if desired or else ingested if the taste does not bother you.