How to Rack Wine

"Racking" wine is the process of separating wine from its sediment, or lees, and transferring the wine into another container using a siphon.

Prerequisites:

If you do not understand how siphoning works, take a moment to visit this site that explains siphoning is greater detail…

http://www.physicscentral.com/lou/lou-01-10.html

Materials Needed:

Auto Siphon (pictured here)

Or…

Homemade siphon consisting of dowel, tie wraps, and ½ hose

One major advantage (from a sanitation standpoint) of the Auto Siphon is that the priming does not require use of the mouth.

Steps:

1. 

Place the container of wine to be siphoned on a table or other high platform.

2. 

Place an empty container below the table, such as on the floor or on a lower table.

3. 

Place the notched end of the siphon tube into the container of wine. Be sure the tube is in the wine but does not touch the layer of sediment. (The sediment should be at the bottom of the container.)  If using the homemade siphon, adjust the distance between the end of the tubing affixed to the dowel and the end of the dowel.

The end that gets put into the wine “to be” siphoned is the end that does not have a number of feet of hose hanging off it.  The portion of use is used to bridge the expanse between the source and the destination vessels.  The end of the hose should be positioned inside the destination such that it won’t pop out easily.

Ti p: Consider an expanse of hose that will permit you to work with ease, but without having to coil the hose.  Gravity is your friend when siphoning so try to place the source vessel onto a counter or other high, but stable, platform.  With a sufficient height above the destination vessel and sufficient hose, enough draw will be created to move the wine contents quickly from one vessel to the other.  

4. 

Suck on the other end of the tube until wine begins to flow. If using the Auto Siphon, pushing the bent cane downward in the cylinder should begin to force the wine through the siphon.

Tip: If using a homemade siphon, hold the end of the hose slightly above horizontal and draw until almost at your mouth.  Quickly lower the end of the hose with drawn wine downward into container.  This action, which can require some practice, will allow you to prime the siphon without having to actually come in contact with the wine.

If possible (especially when help is available) start the priming process with the siphon tip off the bottom of the source vessel and sufficiently away from any sediment.

5. 

When the wine begins to flow, insert the tube into the lower container.

6. 

Fill the container.

7. 

When the container is full, or if sediment starts to travel with the wine, stop the flow by holding the hose in a downward position and pinching a section of it. Clamp if necessary.

Final Thoughts:

Racking requires practice with the best “rackers” manning the siphon and maneuvering the source vessel to get the very last bit of wine off the lees.  However, whether novice or seasoned, the goal, especially when preparing to bottle, is a clear wine without sediment.  Part of the cost in winemaking is in being prepared to possibly forfeit a small amount of wine to ensure clarity.  On the other hand, if you have the time for another racking, try your hand at getting the last drop. After all, you’ll have another shot at it in perhaps another week or so.