Buying guide
Best Wine Filter Systems for Homemade Wine
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Editor's Choice
Fermtech Mini 2 Home Pro 10 inch Cartridge Filter System
A pump-driven, single-stage stainless steel filter with a 10 inch cartridge, sold with #2 (2 micron) cartridges, tubing with an anti-sediment tip, a pre-soak mix and the power adapter.
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More filters in the box
Fermtech Mini 2 Filter Starter Kit with Pre-Screen
The same Mini 2 platform with a pre-screen and a bundle of filters; up to 5 gallons per cycle.
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Pads for a Buon Vino Mini Jet
Buon Vino Mini Jet #2 Polishing Pads, 10 packs of 3
The middle grade, 1 to 5 micron, for wines that are already clear.
A wine filter system pushes finished wine through a pad or cartridge fine enough to catch the haze your eye still sees after fining and racking. For homemade wine it is a polishing step: it takes a clear wine to brilliant, and with the finest grades it can remove yeast so a sweet wine is less likely to referment in the bottle. It does not rescue a cloudy wine, and that is the most common reason people are disappointed with a filter.
Below we compare the home filter systems and pads you can buy on Amazon, explain the #1, #2 and #3 pad grades, and set out when filtering is worth it. At the end there is a short section on the other thing sold as a "wine filter": the sulfite purifiers for drinking wine, which are a different product for a different job. If your wine is still hazy, start with our guide on how to clear wine instead.
Wine Filter Systems Compared
The table compares the filter units and pads by what each listing says. "Not stated" means the listing does not say.
| Filter | Fermtech Mini 2 Home Pro Editor's Choice | Fermtech Mini 2 Starter Kit | Vinbrite Mark III | Buon Vino Mini Jet #1 Pads | Buon Vino Mini Jet #2 Pads | Buon Vino Mini Jet #3 Pads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Type | Pump unit, 10 in cartridge | Pump unit with pre-screen | Filter kit, no pump listed | Coarse pads | Polishing pads | Sterile pads |
| Rating | #2, 2 micron (8 and 0.8 sold separately) | Bundle of filters | Not stated | 6 to 10 micron | 1 to 5 micron | Listed as sterile |
| Batch | Not stated | Up to 5 gal per cycle | Not stated | One set of 3 per session | One set of 3 per session | One set of 3 per session |
| Needs | Mains power (adapter included) | Mains power | Check the listing photos | A Mini Jet machine | A Mini Jet machine | A Mini Jet machine |
| Buy | Check price | Check price | Check price | Check price | Check price | Check price |
Editor's Choice
Fermtech Mini 2 Home Pro
- Type
- Pump unit, 10 in cartridge
- Rating
- #2, 2 micron (8 and 0.8 sold separately)
- Batch
- Not stated
- Needs
- Mains power (adapter included)
Fermtech Mini 2 Starter Kit
- Type
- Pump unit with pre-screen
- Rating
- Bundle of filters
- Batch
- Up to 5 gal per cycle
- Needs
- Mains power
Vinbrite Mark III
- Type
- Filter kit, no pump listed
- Rating
- Not stated
- Batch
- Not stated
- Needs
- Check the listing photos
Buon Vino Mini Jet #1 Pads
- Type
- Coarse pads
- Rating
- 6 to 10 micron
- Batch
- One set of 3 per session
- Needs
- A Mini Jet machine
Buon Vino Mini Jet #2 Pads
- Type
- Polishing pads
- Rating
- 1 to 5 micron
- Batch
- One set of 3 per session
- Needs
- A Mini Jet machine
Buon Vino Mini Jet #3 Pads
- Type
- Sterile pads
- Rating
- Listed as sterile
- Batch
- One set of 3 per session
- Needs
- A Mini Jet machine
Wine Filter Reviews
Each review sticks to the manufacturer's listing. We say what is included and what you still need, because with filters the consumables matter as much as the machine.
Fermtech Mini 2 Home Pro Cartridge Filter System (Editor's Choice)
The Mini 2 Home Pro is a one-stage filter with a 10 inch cartridge on a stainless steel base, driven by a small pump. Fermtech's listing stresses a closed, no-spill design meant to reduce the wine's exposure to air, and NSF 51 approved tubing. The package includes the machine, tubing with an anti-sediment tip, #2 cartridges rated at 2 microns, a wrench, a pre-soaking mix, the AC power adapter and a manual. Other cartridges are sold separately at 8, 2 and 0.8 microns, which gives you the same coarse, polishing and fine sequence as pad filters.
Why it is our pick: cartridges are quicker to change than a stack of wet pads, the closed path limits oxidation, and of the complete units sold on Amazon it is the one bought most widely. Fermtech says it is assembled in Canada.
Best for: polishing 5 or 6 gallon batches before bottling. Missing: coarser and finer cartridges, if your wine needs them.
Fermtech Mini 2 Filter Starter Kit with Pre-Screen
The starter kit is the same Mini 2 platform sold with a pre-screen and a bundle of replacement filters. Fermtech describes it as stainless steel, compact enough to keep on a counter, and able to handle up to 5 gallons of liquid per filtering cycle. The pre-screen catches larger particles before the main filter, which helps the filters last longer on wines with a little sediment left.
Choose it over the Home Pro if you want the extra filters in one order; choose the Home Pro if you want the lower outlay and plan to buy cartridges as you go.
Best for: buyers who want a complete filter setup in one box. Missing: the listing does not itemize the filter grades, so check before you order.
Vinbrite Mark III Wine Filter
The Vinbrite Mark III is made by Harris Filters, and the listing gives Wales as the country of origin. It is the only unit here without a pump in the listing, and the listing itself is thin: no flow rate, no pad grade and no batch size. It is also far less widely bought than the Fermtech units. We include it because it is the low-outlay way into filtering if you do not want a powered machine, but compare the listing photos and the maker's instructions before choosing it.
Best for: occasional filtering without a pump. Missing: clear specifications in the listing.
Buon Vino Mini Jet Pads #1, #2 and #3
If you already own a Buon Vino Mini Jet, the pads are what you buy on Amazon; the machine itself is mostly sold by home winemaking shops. Each session uses a set of three pads. The listings grade them clearly:
- #1 Coarse (12 packs of 3): 6 to 10 micron, for young wines aged 2 to 4 weeks, and to protect the finer pads.
- #2 Polishing (10 packs of 3): 1 to 5 micron, for wines aged 4 to 6 weeks; the listing says it works well with reds and heavier whites.
- #3 Sterile (sold singly): listed as super sterile, the finest grade; keep it for whites and blushes you want brilliant and as free of yeast as a home setup allows.
The maker's soaking instructions are the same for all grades: one quart of cold water with 0.75 g of metabisulfite and 3.5 g of citric acid, soaked until the pads no longer float.
Best for: Mini Jet owners. Missing: the machine.
Fermtech Mini 2 #2 Filtration Cartridges
The replacement #2 cartridges for the Mini 2, rated at 2 microns for clearing. Each pack holds two cartridges, and Fermtech says a set filters between 6 and 12 gallons depending on how clear the wine is going in, which is a good illustration of why you fine and rack first: a cleaner wine gets you twice the life out of each cartridge.
Best for: Mini 2 owners. Missing: nothing.
When Filtering Homemade Wine Is Worth It
Filtering is optional. Plenty of home winemakers never filter and bottle wine that is perfectly clear after fining, racking and time. A filter earns its place in three situations.
You Want Brilliance, Not Just Clarity
A wine can look clear in the carboy and still show a faint haze in a glass held up to the light. A #2 pad or 2 micron cartridge takes that last haze out. This matters most for whites, rosés and fruit wines that are served chilled, where haze is easy to see.
You Are Making a Sweet Wine
Residual sugar plus a few live yeast cells is how bottles referment and corks push out. Virginia Cooperative Extension's Wine Making for the Home Gardener (HORT-213) notes that filtration systems for home winemakers can remove yeast and most bacteria and increase the stability of the wine. Home filtering is not a guarantee of sterility, so keep stabilizing with sorbate and sulfite as our guide on how to backsweeten wine explains, and treat the filter as extra insurance.
You Bottle on a Schedule
Wine kits and competition entries often have a bottling date. A filter shortens the wait for the last bit of clearing. It does not replace fining agents, though: our guide to clearing wine compares the fining agents that should come first.
How to Choose a Wine Filter System
Pads or Cartridges
Pad filters such as the Buon Vino Mini Jet clamp a stack of three flat pads between plates. They are proven and the pads are cheap, but they drip during the run and need soaking first. Cartridge filters such as the Fermtech Mini 2 use a sealed housing, which is neater and exposes the wine to less air, at the cost of pricier consumables.
Pump or Gravity
A pump pushes wine through fine media at a steady rate, so a 5 or 6 gallon batch is done in one sitting. Gravity filters rely on the height of the source vessel and are slower, especially with fine media. For anything finer than coarse filtration, a pump unit is the practical choice.
The Grade Sequence
Start with the coarsest grade the wine needs and work down. Going straight to sterile pads on a young wine blocks them almost at once. The usual home sequence is #1 for a young or slightly hazy wine, #2 for polishing a clear one, and #3 only for whites or blushes you want sterile before bottling.
Flavor and Color
Pads strip a little body and color along with haze, especially fine grades on young reds. Flush the first liter or so through the system and taste it before you commit the whole batch, and keep the finest grades for wines that need them.
Sulfite Wine Filters: A Different Product
Search Amazon for "wine filter" and much of what comes back is not for winemaking at all. Pour-through purifiers and stir-in wands such as the Ullo Wine Purifier and the PureWine Wand are sold to people who drink commercial wine and want to remove added sulfites; Ullo says its filter removes sulfite preservatives without altering the wine, and PureWine says its wand removes histamines and sulfites. Those are the manufacturers' claims.
Why they exist: federal labeling rule 27 CFR 4.32(e) requires the statement "Contains sulfites" on any wine with 10 or more parts per million of total sulfur dioxide, so the warning is on nearly every bottle in a store. For homemade wine they are beside the point: you decide how much sulfite goes in, and our sulfite calculator helps you use only what the wine needs. They do nothing to clear a hazy wine.
If you want a sulfite filter for drinking wine
For serving commercial wine, not for clearing homemade wine.
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1Pour-through purifier
Ullo Wine Purifier with 4 Selective Sulfite Filters
Rests on a glass and filters as you pour; has an on/off aerator switch; dishwasher safe, per the listing.
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2Stir-in wand
A wand you stir in the glass; PureWine says each one works on up to 3 glasses.
Wine is for adults of legal drinking age. Enjoy it responsibly.