This year we will be doing our first white from grapes (Viognier), and we are planning on conducting primary in a floating lid, variable capacity tank.
What I am struggling with is where to place the lid. The two competing forces here are on one hand, white is more susceptible to oxidation so you would want the lid close to the wine. On the other hand, the fermentation will produce foam and co2 and having it too close might actually be harmful to the tank and also cause the gasket seal to break.
That said, my plan would be to start the lid higher (maybe 25% of the juice volume) and then lower it as fermentation slows. Does that sound reasonable? Are there any other standard practices?
Apologies if this has already been answered. Seems like an obvious question but I cannot seem to surface an answer.
What I am struggling with is where to place the lid. The two competing forces here are on one hand, white is more susceptible to oxidation so you would want the lid close to the wine. On the other hand, the fermentation will produce foam and co2 and having it too close might actually be harmful to the tank and also cause the gasket seal to break.
That said, my plan would be to start the lid higher (maybe 25% of the juice volume) and then lower it as fermentation slows. Does that sound reasonable? Are there any other standard practices?
Apologies if this has already been answered. Seems like an obvious question but I cannot seem to surface an answer.
