WineXpert bâtonnage

[Martini]

I started a Sauvignon Blanc Estate Series and wanted to age the wine on it's lees or try bâtonnage. The directions say to rack the wine at 1.010, then after 10 days stir the wine and add the clearing agents.

Can I skip the first racking? Stir each week then when ready to clarify stir the wine with the original lees and add the clearing agents (at .998)?

 

[ibglowin]

Here are the directions you need:

· Make you kit up as normal, and rack to the secondary carboy on day 5-7 as directed.
· After ten days, ignore the instructions about fining and stabilizing. Instead, add the supplied metabisulphite powder to the wine, and gently stir it up with a sanitized spoon.
· Get all of the yeast sediment in to suspension, make sure it’s nice and cloudy, but don’t splash or agitate.
· Top up with some decent similar wine (this is better than using water for this technique). At three or four day intervals, go back and stir the yeast up again.
· Repeat every three or four days for a month.
· Let the wine settle for two weeks, rack it into a clean, sanitized carboy, and follow all the remaining instructions on schedule, omitting no detail however slight.
By stirring the yeast into suspension repeatedly you get the benefits of the amino acids they carry, along with a host of compounds—principally mannoproteins, which give the wine a creamy aroma and mouth feel.

 

[Randoneur]

Great idea, this will help create a more balance wine and round out the palate.
There are many ways to do this and regiments can go from 1 month to 6 months withvarious stirring schedules. The important thing for you to know is that this is like other winemaking processes - taste as yougo so that you can determine when to stop the process.

 

[Martini]

Racked to the secondary this morning will follow the above. Thanks

 

[joeswine]

sometimes this works and sometimes it can have negitive affects on the wine...not all whites will take the after tones of the lees....mop