THE PROCESS: RACKING THE WINE

RACKING THE WINE

This is a process that is completed three to four times during the creation of your wine. The main purpose is to draw the wine off the sediment into a fresh, sanitized carboy. The last two rackings will also introduce sulphite powder to fight any oxidation brought on by your wine's contact with air.

First, be sure the specific gravity has dropped to (or below) a reading of 1.020. (A reading of 1.020 or less tells you that most of the fermentation is complete and that the must can be racked to a clean carboy to finish.) Place the primary fermenter on a table top. Place the stiff plastic end of the siphon tube at the bottom of the fermenter. Hovering your head just over the clean carboy, suck two to three times sharply on the other end of the siphon hose and quickly place that end into the neck of the carboy. You could buy a special pump gizmo to do this, but this method works just as well.

Top up the carboy with boiled, cooled water, if necessary, to just below the bottom of the rubber bung stopper. You may want to taste the must again; it's a good way to determine that everything is healthy and you may start getting an indication of the flavors in the finished wine. Attach the airlock. Leave the wine for ten days.

After ten days, repeat the previous step. Now leave the wine for three to four weeks. After this time, you will do the last racking, but before doing so, sanitize a carboy, rinse and add 3/8 teaspoon of sulfite powder. Dip your wine-thief into the carboy, extract a few ounces and mix this with the sulfite powder in a cup. Pour the mixture into the receiving carboy, using your funnel; then siphon in the remaining wine.

After all the racking, try to find a cool, dark area to allow your wines to recover. Resist using dark garbage bags as carboy covers to keep light out. Some bags are chemically treated to repel hungry vermin and these chemical toxins could find their way into your wine!

Wine Making Equipment