A term referring to the process of allowing freshly pressed grape must to settle naturally (also known as settling, static clarification, sedimentation or pre-clarification) by utilising gravity without any mechanical intervention. This should not be confused with the natural clarification of wine (see ‘Clarification’ for more on this). Racking is absolutely essential to ensure the fermentation proceeds as smoothly as possible and to produce a wine with a pure flavour and free from defects. This is because the must still contains many undesirable solids, or so-called ‘lees’, such as fragments of seeds and grape skins, pulp particles, soil, dust, residues of plant protection products, etc.
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Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)