🍷 Racking
Moving clear wine into another vessel and leaving the sediment behind.
Racking is the transfer of clear wine from one container to another, leaving the sediment at the bottom. In French it is called soutirage.
After fermentation, cloudy matter collects at the bottom of a barrel or tank: dead yeast and tiny bits of berry. This is wine sediment, or lees. If left for long, the wine may take on an unpleasant smell. So the wine is carefully moved, often by siphon or pump. Clear wine goes into a clean container and the sediment stays behind.
Racking has another effect: the wine touches the air a little, which helps remove excess reduction, that is a sulphur-like or closed smell. The operation is repeated several times during ageing. It helps make the wine clear and stable without heavy intervention. Racking is one of the tasks winemakers have done by hand since ancient times, and it is still relevant today.
What it includes
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Racking → kind of → 🍷 Winemaking → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Lees, 🍷 Racking cane (siphon)
- Previous step
- 🍷 Reduction (wine)
- Part of
- 🍷 Winemaking
Frequently asked questions
What is racking?
Moving clear wine into another container and leaving the sediment behind.
Why is wine racked?
To remove sediment, clarify the wine and give it a little air.
What is used for racking?
Often a siphon or a pump.
What to read next
- 🍷 Lees — Dead yeast at the bottom after fermentation, which gives wine roundness.
- 🍷 Reduction (wine) — Smells of rotten egg or struck match when the wine lacked air.
- 🍷 Racking cane (siphon) — A tube for moving wine by gravity without stirring up the sediment.
Similar
🍷 Sorting table · 🍷 Must · 🍷 Acidification · 🍷 Deacidification · 🍷 Fortification · 🍷 Dealcoholisation