Racked Wine

[Victorio Galindo]

Thefirst is to remove sediment. An initial racking is done typically after malolactic fermentation is complete, to separate the wine from what is referred to as gross lees. These are dead yeast cells and other solids leftover from fermentation that settle over time.

Giving wine oxygen can also get rid of reductive aromas. These unwanted aromas, often perceived as rotten eggs or tire rubber, can occur in the absence of oxygen. If winemakers want to retain lees to impart texture but remediate reduction, they can stir the lees so they become suspended in the wine before racking.

To rack, winemakers typically insert a stainless steel, wand-shaped device into the barrel. A friction-free pump, or in some cases gravity, is used to siphon the wine out. Winemakers then use a sight glass to observe and halt the process when the siphon starts to pull up sediment. From there, the wine goes via a hose to a tank. The whole process takes about six minutes for a 225-liter barrel.

How often winemakers rack varies. In general, the more tannic a grape variety, vineyard or vintage, the more times a wine might be racked. Some may rack their wines only once after malolactic fermentation is complete and then again just before bottling. Others might do it every quarter. The overall goal of the wine is also a consideration.

The term racking means moving wine from one vessel to another. This can be from tank to barrel, barrel to barrel, and barrel to tank. Racking can be done to serve a number of different purposes. It all depends on where we are at in the winemaking process.

The first racking is generally done shortly after initial fermentation of sugar to alcohol is complete. This separates the wine from the skins, seeds, dead yeast cells, and other particles that settle to the bottom of the tank. Red wine typically goes into a barrel at this racking.

Racking, often referred to as Soutirage or Soutirage traditionnel (meaning racking in French[1]), also filtering or fining, is the process of moving wine or beer from one container to another using gravity rather than a pump, which can be disruptive to the beverage.[2] The process is also known as Abstich in German and travaso in Italian.[3]

Alexis Lichine's Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits defines racking as "siphoning wine or beer off the lees (in the case of wine) or trub (in the case of beer), into a new, clean barrel or other vessel".[4] Racking allows clarification and aids in stabilization. Wine that is allowed to age on the lees often develops "off-tastes". A racking hose or tube is used and can be attached to a racking cane to make the task easier. The racking process is repeated several times during the aging of wine.[4]

Racking or soutirage is a traditional method in wine production of moving wine from one barrel to another using gravity rather than a pump. The process is repeated when the casks are moved to the second-year cellar.[5] Soutirage was developed in the Bordeaux region of France in the 19th century at a time when there was no electricity to power pumps. Many estates such in Bordeaux and some estates in Pomerol and St. Emilion still employ this labor-intensive method. During aging, the wine is decanted several times from barrel to barrel. This process softens tannins, clarifies the wine and enhances aromatic qualities. According to Oz Clarke, "traditionally the wine is 'racked' or drawn from barrel or tank to another empty one on a number of occasions (called soutirage). This helps clarify and freshen the wine by removing the fine lees or sediment which forms and provides a tiny amount of oxygen to help the aging process. The wine may also be 'fined' (collage) using egg white or other materials to settle out particles in suspension which are then removed through further racking."[6] Egg white is often applied to each barrel during the process.[7]

A racking hose is a flexible, plastic hose, used to siphon wine or beer from one vessel to another. It is used in both racking and bottling operations. A racking cane is a rigid tube, often bent or L-shaped, that is attached to the racking hose to make racking easier.[4] A protective cap is placed over the lower end of the cane that allows liquid to be drawn into the cane from above rather than below while keeping most large solids out. The cap allows the tip of the cane to be lowered close to the lees without unduly disturbing them. The lower tip of the racking cane should initially be held about midway between the surface and the lees and gradually lowered as the volume decreases due to the siphoning.[4]

Racking is an essential part to making any sound wine. It is a process that, on average, should be performed 2 to 4 times throughout the winemaking process. Doing so in a timely manner will aid in the clarification of the wine and help to inhibit the production of unwanted off-flavors.

Many home winemakers that are new to the hobby are sometimes thrown off by the term, at times, confusing it with meaning to bottle the wine, or worse yet, interpreting it to mean that they need to seal up the wine fermentation vessel air-tight in some fashion. Both misinterpretations can lead to disastrous results.

There are some variations on the definition of "racking" that can be found from one winemaking book to the next. But put very simply, racking means to siphon the wine must from one container to the next, so as to leave any sediment behind. In fact that is the sole purpose of racking, "to leave the sediment behind."

The first being, this is the time you will need to put the fermentation under the protection of an airlock. And, this usually means moving the must to another container, anyway. The reason an airlock is needed at this point is because this is when the fermentation will dramatically slow down. When the wine yeast becomes less active, the must is no longer able to sufficiently protect itself from the continuous, long-term threats posed by outside contaminants. The must needs the protection of an airlock.

Secondly, it is at this slowing period that you will usually find that around 70 to 80 percent of the sediment will have already occurred. It will take much longer for the last 30 percent to show up. So, racking the wine on the 5th to 7th day is a good idea from a timing standpoint--an optimum time to get the bulk of the sediment out of the way.

The third reason for racking a must at 5 to 7 days is to remove any pulp that may be present. If you are dealing with fresh fruits as opposed to packaged juices, you will want to get the pulp out of the must at this time. Leaving the pulp in the must for a longer period of time could result in a wine that is too harsh tasting; and any shorter period of time could result in a wine that has less body and character than you may prefer.

The second racking should be done when the fermentation activity is complete. This could be just a few days after the first racking, or it could be up to 4 or 5 weeks after the first racking. It simply depends on how fast your fermentation has come along.

The third and--quite often--the last racking should be done after the wine has completely cleared up. Again, this is an opportune time to get the sediment away from the wine. It only makes sense to rack the wine away from the sediment as soon as all of it has occurred.

Other rackings may need to be performed in certain situations, such as when bulk aging a heavy red wine, for example. Every 3 to 4 months it would be wise to rack the wine off any sediment that may have occurred over the coarse of long-term bulk storage. Sediment can occur throughout this storage time due to instabilities that may exist in the wine.

Another time that an additional racking would be required is if you decide to use finings or clarifiers in your wine such as Bentonite. This would require you to do a racking once before treating the wine and once again after the effects of the fining or clarifying process are complete.

It is possible to rack a wine too many times. The additional disruptions to a resting wine can work as a negative by way of over oxidation and/or the general deterioration of the wine's flavor. So, please do not get the idea that more is better when it comes to racking your wine.

With the exception of some solids that may have settled from the fruit, most of the sediment is the result of dead or inactive yeast cells falling out of the must. The yeast that is initially introduced into a must at the beginning of a fermentation, will multiply itself to anywhere from 100 to 200 times the original amount that was put in. Generation after generation of dead yeast cells is the bulk of what you see lying at the bottom of the fermenter.

Towards the end of fermentation there is a fairly sizable group of healthy, active yeast cells floating throughout the must that are running out of food (sugar). Once all of the sugars have been consumed, this active, now-starving group of yeast will start a process that can only be described as cannibalization.

The active yeast will instinctively start producing an enzyme that will break-down the dead yeast cells that lay on the bottom. This is done so that dead yeast's nutrients can be released and utilized by the still-active yeast. This break-down process is known as "autolysis" and its effects can eventually ruin a wine. If given enough time--weeks, not days--this process can produce off-flavors in a wine that range from bitter, to rubber, to even metallic.

Another reason for racking wine is to aid in the clarification process. If no rackings where ever performed, what you would eventually have is a container of wine that was clear on top, but with a thick, hazy layer at the bottom. In a typical five gallon batch, this hazy layer could be anywhere from 1 to 5 inches thick. This would be in addition to the heavy layer of sediment that would lay solid on the bottom.

The process of racking your must is fairly straight forward. You simply start a siphon. The real trick is to do the siphoning without stirring up the sediment. You need to siphon the must "quietly," as I like to say.

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