# When to Rack, and when Not ?



## freddie (Nov 26, 2012)

I'm relatively new to winemaking from grapes and I am only now getting a handle on all the major concepts.

The more I read about racking off lees the more questions I seem to raise. 

So, for red wine, is it best to rack off gross lees after 24 Hrs or 1 - 2 weeks after pressing. Are there circumstancers when you could leave the racking off gross lees for an extended period, and if so what are the benefits.

In undertaking a racking schedule, what are the rules ?. After you rack off gross lees, can you leave the wine sitting for say 6 months before the next racking. Are there set periods between racking cycles. How many times should you rack before bottling or is it just when the wine have sufficiently cleared.

For a white wine, is the general rule to rack off gross lees after 24 Hrs. Are there situatiions or varietals where it is beneficial to rack a little later.

Maybe a basic concept but some insight into tried and proven strategies would be helpful.


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## s0615353 (Nov 26, 2012)

I have never heard of any benefit of leaving the wine on the gross lees for an extended period of time because of the risk of H2S being produced and spoiling your wine. In general, the schedule that I follow when it comes to racking is to first rack off of the gross lees two weeks after fermentation begins. I wait the full two weeks because by this time fermentation is totally complete regardless of the yeast strain (some are slower than others) and a good portion of the yeast die off and settle to the bottom (making it easier to get as much of the yeast out of the wine as possible). I do not think there is a “rule” for when to rack, but most will agree that the time is every 3-4 months that the wine us bulk ageing. This timeframe gives the young wine time to settle and clear as well as lets the flavors mellow out considerably after fermentation. 
The only time that this schedule is not followed is when a wine is undergoing MLF. The MLB live off of all of the goodies that are produced from the dead yeast cells. So after racking off the gross lees the fine lees are kept in suspension to lessen the risk of H2S and give the bacteria plenty of food to get the job done. Once a week the fine lees are stirred back into suspension until the MLF is complete, then the wine is racked again into a new carboy and it goes on the 3-4 month racking schedule.


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## grapeman (Nov 26, 2012)

freddie said:


> I'm relatively new to winemaking from grapes and I am only now getting a handle on all the major concepts.
> 
> The more I read about racking off lees the more questions I seem to raise.
> 
> ...


 

The key here is the part that says winemaking from grapes. It is good to rack off the gross lees (different than lees from dead yeast from kits). Since that stuff is resulting from a fresh pressing (grape pulp, maybe a few seeds and some other MOG- like yeast), you want to get rid of that stuff. With reds, 24-48 hours is a good goal to rack. Since whites haven't fermented yet before pressing, let them settle out 24 hours, make your adjustments and then innoculate with yeast.

Treat the next following rackings similar to kit rackings.


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