July 07, 2003

Racked the 2002 Teldeschi Zinfandel & 2002 York Syrah

On Sunday afternoon, Tom and I racked 2002 Eno Zinfandel- Teldeschi and the 2002 Eno Syrah- York. I racked (i.e. transferred) two barrels of the Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel in order to:

  1. Get off the gross lees (sediment) before bottling. The reduces the chance of any sediment in the bottle.
  2. Get some barrel age for a small amount of wine stored in a stainless steel keg.
  3. Incorporate some wine that has undergone malolactic fermentation (ML) with wine that hasn't. Before bottling, I need to verify that all the wine has finished ML.
We also double racked the neutral barrel of Syrah from the York Vineyard. It felt great to do get dirty and do some winemaking. I don't have to rack anything until bottling in August.

What is racking?
Racking 2002 Eno Syrah using a Bulldog wand and nitrogen pump.The process of siphoning off the clear juice from the sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the container either naturally or with the help of fining agents. Racking can occur from 2 to 4 times before the wine is clear. Some wines, like Pinot Noir, are very rarely racked; if only before bottling.

Posted by Sasha on July 07, 2003 11:38 AM