Nice Rack

Continuing on with the Wine Project, the fermentation came to a halt last Sunday and I racked the free-run and pressed juice to a glass carboy.  It was a tough decision because I was in what I felt was the danger zone between not being potentially dry (or all sugars fermented to alcohol) and the fact that the yeast appeared to have stopped working and I didn’t want the wine to be exposed to air for too long since CO2 production from the yeast had stopped as well.  The result is that my specific gravity was hanging right around the .998-1.000 range according to my hydrometer, which is iffy.  Remember the golden rule of “being patient”… well, let’s hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me.

The racking procedure was not that difficult, but just a little tedious since I am using home winemaking equipment that is not mechanized.  To better facilitate the siphonage, I raised the fermentation bucket by setting it up on a pool hall chair while the carboy stayed on the floor.  The free-run filled about 3/4 of the carboy, which will hold 5 gallons total.  The pressing was also done by hand using a nylon laundry bag.  I tasted the wine at both stages and you could really get the puckery mouthfeel of the tannins from the pressed juice.

Unfortunately, the pressed juice still didn’t get me to a full carboy, where I wanted only 2 inches of space between the wine and the bung.  Yes, I said “bung.”  So, I topped the carboy with some bulk Cab/Merlot I had around the house, which amounts to about 4% of the total volume… this is not an abnormal thing to do in home wine making, but I have no idea how it will change the taste of my wine.

Finally, after the carboy was filled, I inoculated it with malolactic culture to start the secondary fermentation to change the tart, granny smith-like malic acid to smoother, creamy-like lactic acid.  If all goes well, I’ll test the malic levels this weekend and next until they are gone.  I also added 1 ounce of oak cubes as well.  Until next time…