General Process Clarification and Observations for Beginning Wine Makers

General Process Clarification and Observations For Beginning Wine Makers

• First racking occurs after cold stabilization in reds.
• Secondary fermentation must be complete prior to cold stabilization.
• For red wines, the act of racking from the primary fermentation vessel to a carboy after pressing is not defined as the first racking. Typically, the first racking occurs after cold stabilization.
• The primary purpose of cold stabilization is the precipitation of bitartrate crystals. This is foremost for the esthetic value of the wine but may have some bearing on the final total acid or TA content of the wine. Presumably, the TA will drop some degree after the first racking.
• Rack immediately following the wines removal from its cold stabilization environment or risk some crystals returning to suspension.
• Oxygen is the silent killer of the night, the purest evil. Take every measure in existence to prevent oxygenation of the wine after fermentation.
• Books and recipes typically cite over generalized measurements regarding the addition of sulfites to wine. Since sulfite is critical to a wines survival and quality, more accurate means of sulfite management, such as reverse titration tests (the Ripper method), are advisable. Note that only about 46% of sulfite added to wine becomes free sulfite and only a small portion of that ends up as molecular sulfite. Molecular sulfite is the only metric that has a meaningful relationship to wine quality and preservation. Molecular sulfite is measured by first obtaining a free sulfite metric using a Titret kit (the Ripper method) and then evaluating the following function, Mol SO2 = Fee SO2 + (1 + 1O^(pH – 1.8)). A mol sulfite level of 0.5ppm is ample to kill most evil critters. Reds should be maintained at around 0.4ppm and whites about 0.5ppm. Reds require a bit less due to natural tannins.
• Never exceed 100ppm of bound sulfite regardless of mol sulfite, this will negatively impact flavor. Try modifying another independent variable such as pH to get closer to desired mol sulfite. Bound sulfite is, of course, the cumulative amount of sulfite physically added to the wine minus your free sulfite measurement.
• Avoid filtering, especially in reds, unless the intention is to make a ‘light’ tasting wine. Try to clarify by racking only. However, in whites a fining agent may be required to minimize racking steps and therefore minimizing air contact. Remember that fining and filtering is only for visual esthetic value but will almost always negatively affect flavor at least a tad.