Winemaking For The Home Enthusiast - Final Fermintation

Your new batch of wine has finished its initial fermentation.  You have determined the sugar levels of the batch through testing.  The wine now must be allowed to reach full dryness and clarification.  Let's look at the process.

Final Fermentation

The wine in the topped off carboy has been allowed to sit for several weeks at room temperature. Final fermentation is reached when all yeast activity has stopped.  The airlock will have quit bubbling.  Although you can assume that the wine has reached dryness, take no chances. Once again use Clinitest to determine if any residual sugar remains. If residual sugar is below .1% or .2% as determined by the Clinitest color chart, you can consider it dry, even though a trace of unfermented sugars will remain.

The Gross Lees

The wine should now be allowed to sit in the carboy for several weeks to allow “gross lees”, the dead yeast cells, pectins and any byproducts of the fermentation, to settle out. Remove the airlock and replace with a rubber stopper.  Wire the stopper in to avoid it blowing out.  After three or four weeks, the gross lees will have settled and clarification comes to a standstill.  It is time to make the first racking. 

Racking the Wine

Racking, the process of drawing the wine off the gross lees, is done after about 4 weeks of bulk aging. The wine is transferred to another clean carboy via siphoning to avoid air.  Adjustments and treatments, such as adding fining agents and potassium metabisulfite is done now. 

Further Rackings

The wine can be racked several more times, each time adding fining agents and checking acidity.  The liquid beermaker's isinglass is often added at the second racking as a second fining agent.

On third racking, the wine should now be brilliant.  In the third racking you adjust acid levels, boot the level of potassium metabisulfite, and raise the sugar level if needed in anticipation of bottling.

Bottling the Wine

There are as many theories on corking bottles as there are varieties of wine.  Most home winemakers prefer corks.  The preferred standard bottle is 750 ml, although a 375 ml bottle is often used.  Preparation to bottle is accomplished by rinsing and sulfiting the bottles.  The wine is transferred to the bottles via a bottling wand and racking hose.  Top the bottle so that there is only ¼” airspace after the cork is inserted. 

Cellaring Your Wine

If you plan on aging the wine for several years, it has to be stored in a humid, 55 degree temperature controlled environment absent of light and vibration.  Although a cellar is preferred, there are many wine storage units on the market.  After 2 months, the wine will have recovered from “bottling shock” and you can get a good impression of what the aged wine will be like.

This series is only a basic one.  The art of making wine is a complicated one.  A lot of information is readily available for the home enthusiast.  

Alen Smith is an award winning author and regular contributor to DoItYourself.com.  He writes on a variey of subjects and excels at research.