Decanting (also soutirage = racking) of a young wine after fermentation into another container. If necessary, further ageing takes place there. This separates the wine from the lees (yeast sediment, coarse yeast), lees (suspended matter) and undissolved parts of the fruit pulp and grape skin. In the past, this was done manually, especially in smaller wineries, using special vessels known as wine supports. Today, racking is done by pumping over or, more gently, by siphoning into an empty vessel. In modern tapping tanks, the suction nozzles are height-adjustable and can thus be flexibly set above the sediment. If necessary, this is done several times. After fermentation and subsequent clarification, the first racking takes place, during which the sediment (coarse yeast) is removed.
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Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien