3rd racking directly into bottle

[sjors86]

I'm making my first white wine from my own grapes (just moved in last year) and although I made ciders I'm anxious to ruin my first batch of home made wine, I really hope it to succeed.

And with this anxiousness comes doubt, according to the diary I'm keeping track of the progress, the fermenting started at 2 October, 7 October I racked for the first time, 28th of October I racked for the second time. It's now 3 month's after the second racking, is this generally the right time for racking the 3rd time (sg is 998) and should I rack to bucket first and from there into the bottle or any other advise?

 

[Ohio Bob]

It’s still very early in your wines life to be bottling. Is there any sediment in the carboy?

Three options..
It’s your wine, you can bottle it now. Rack into a bucket first to avoid any sediment pickup. Add Kmeta at 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons.

Rack into another carboy to get the wine off the sediment, add the Kmeta at the 1/4 tsp per 5g rate. Keep the carboy topped off, add a similar white wine if you have to. Do not add water to top off.

Leave the carboy alone for another 3 months. Some wine styles leave the wine in contact with the lees, saying it improves flavors. Risk is that the wine might need Kmeta to still be protected. For a white wine, personally, I would not go with this option.

 

[BigDaveK]

Definitely an area with multiple opinions.
I make country wines and transfer (pour through brew bag) to secondary when the SG is around 1.020. 3-4 weeks later when fermentation has stopped I rack to bulk and add kmeta. Most I bulk age for 6 months, some longer, until bottling. At that point I rack to a clean container, make whatever adjustments are needed and bottle.
Good luck!

 

[Rocky]

I'm making my first white wine from my own grapes (just moved in last year) and although I made ciders I'm anxious to ruin my first batch of home made wine, I really hope it to succeed.

And with this anxiousness comes doubt, according to the diary I'm keeping track of the progress, the fermenting started at 2 October, 7 October I racked for the first time, 28th of October I racked for the second time. It's now 3 month's after the second racking, is this generally the right time for racking the 3rd time (sg is 998) and should I rack to bucket first and from there into the bottle or any other advise?

I don't use a calendar to tell me when to rack my wine. The wine will tell me that. You did not mention the variety of grape and I don't see where you are located. My experience with white grapes is that some drop a great deal of lees and some do not. If I see a significant amount on the bottom, say 1/2" or more, I rack because much of that is dead yeast cells. I generally bulk age my whites at least 6 months and may rack twice during that time and once just before bottling, depending on the amount of sediment at the bottom and the clarity of the wine.

As pointed out above, I always rack into a clean carboy and add K-meta just before bottling. Remember, any sediment that goes into the bottle, stays in the bottle.

 

[winemaker81]

All points made so far are spot on.

The wine is 4 months old, which IME is the minimum age for bottling. Depending on varietal and situation, I might bottle now.

However, there's no harm in racking off the sediment and topping up (as per Bob's second option) and give the wine another month or two to see if more sediment drops. If it does, then you know the wine wasn't ready to bottle at this time. If nothing drops, then the wine has had more aging time and is ready to bottle. It's a no-lose decision for you.

 

[Rice_Guy]

there is a high risk that some yeast cells are floating in the wine.
* if back-sweetening this would require potassium sorbate or a cider treatment like pasteurization
* kits run clarifiers to quickly pull out yeast and other solids, yes you may get fine lees, just be careful when serving,, or call it organic
* I number the last few bottles when bottling at third racking, if it has lees I want to give the tail end to special people