What is racking, and why do you rack wine?
Most wines get racked at some point in their aging cycle. Racking is simply drawing the clear wine off the top of the lees (yeast cells and other sediment) which settle to the bottom of barrels during aging. Those lees left behind are then dumped, the barrel refilled, and then topped with wine from the same vineyard. The process is done to clarify wines, move them to new barrels to add extra complexity from multiple types of oak, and to introduce oxygen into the aging wine. Some varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon are racked regularly, every  more »

collapse «
What is racking, and why do you rack wine?
Most wines get racked at some point in their aging cycle. Racking is simply drawing the clear wine off the top of the lees (yeast cells and other sediment) which settle to the bottom of barrels during aging. Those lees left behind are then dumped, the barrel refilled, and then topped with wine from the same vineyard. The process is done to clarify wines, move them to new barrels to add extra complexity from multiple types of oak, and to introduce oxygen into the aging wine. Some varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon are racked regularly, every three months, other wine's like Pinot Noir may never be racked until they are ready to bottle. Kian Tavakoli shows us the tools and techniques for racking.