French name (dt. racking) for tapping; see there.
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...
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Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg