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Vidal

Racking & Ageing Step 5

Racking a term many winemakers are very familiar with and do on a regimented schedule. Shown left we will do our first rack or transfer. The initial rack will accomplish one very important step, and that is to remove or separate off the must that is continuing to ferment, from the "Gross Lees" or the unwanted sediment. The gross lees are a by-product of the yeast grabbing particles in the must along with all the debris that fall also. If our must is not taken off the gross lees we may experience a dead yeast with the inability to ferment to further dryness in the finished product.

To further define "Gross Lees" - They are loose particles that are suspended in the lower end of the fermentation vessel. Loose particles or sediment in this case will not compact very well (as in the case of compressed mater) therefore it becomes suspended or floating at the bottom. Any movement or jarring of the vessel containing the must with the Gross Lees will stir things up and cause the transfer process to just move the loosely suspended lees to next vessel. For this reason it is important to have the vessel containing the must stationary for a day prior to the racking process. Read more below...


As we fill the glass carboy with the fermented must we are transferring or racking the must above the gross lees over to the next vessel. the racking is done with plastic food grade tubing and a manual siphoning process. Pictured above is a 6 gallon carboy being filled.	When all the must is racked over to the carboys, we will use the smaller 5 gallon carboy to contain the gross lees. You will notice there is a funnel in the 5 gallon carboy, with this in place we will pour in the bottom of the bucket containing the lees. this action will allow the must to settle further and separate again, wine/must from gross lees/sediment.


With both carboys side by side (Left=5 Gal. / Right=6 Gal.) we can see a distinctive color change within the left side 5 gallon carboy. The darker color at the bottom is the gross lees that will again settle and allow another separation of wine. The process of racking over timed intervals (every 6 to 8 weeks) allows us as winemakers to remove unwanted sediment while clearing the wine to polished level. Filtering also facilitates the clearing process. In about 4 weeks we will be ready to rack again.

After several racks the wine need time to bulk age or fine out. For some homemade wines such as the white varieties we can bottle as soon as 9 months from starting day-1. Other wines such as full bodied reds will need more time usually in about 1-year they are ready to bottle. It is very important to keep up racking schedules that will allow as many as 5 time to transfer your wine.