What does Unfiltered mean?

Unfiltered means the wine was bottled without passing through a filter, which can leave a slight haze or sediment in the bottle.

Also known as: Unfiltered wine, Non filtré

Unfiltered means the wine was bottled without first being pumped through a filter. The label may say unfiltered, non filtré or unfiltriert. The wine may still have been fined or allowed to settle clear on its own during ageing.

Producers who skip filtration often want to handle the wine as little as possible and keep as much aroma, texture and body as they can. To make the wine stable in the bottle, they let it rest for a long time so particles sink to the bottom, then move the clear wine to a new vessel. Wines that are fully dry and have gone through malolactic conversion are the easiest to bottle unfiltered.

In the glass an unfiltered wine may look slightly cloudy or hazy, especially natural and orange wines. Over time a sediment can also form in the bottle. A light haze or sediment is then part of the wine's character and usually not a fault.

It helps to stand the bottle upright for a while before serving so the sediment collects at the bottom, then pour gently or decant. Unfiltered tells you how the wine was made, not that it is better or worse than a filtered one.