Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies: Weekly Wine Word Wednesdays

The Weekly Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies is: Racked 

Remember our vocab lesson last week on "lees," boys and girls?  It was brought up that eventually lees is removed from the wine (or "racked"). No, being racked or racking is not something that goes on at underground adult play parties in San Francisco.

Racking or racked is the process of gravity-siphoning or gentle pumping of clear wine off of its sediment (aka lees) using a clean siphoning hose and tube which leads back into a clean and sterile container, such as a barrel, for further fermentation.

Racking wine aids in clarification of the wine and stabilization. Racking is a necessity, especially multiple times during the aging process of the wine. 

I have done this job and trust me - - it is a thankless job, but somebody has to do it. 

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