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...
![]()
As honorary chairman of the Domäne Wachau, it is the easiest and quickest way for me to access the wein.plus encyclopaedia when I have questions. The certainty of receiving well-founded and up-to-date information here makes it an indispensable guide.
Hans-Georg Schwarz
Ehrenobmann der Domäne Wachau (Wachau)