Do I need to rack off very fine lees before adding campden?

[Newbie]

Hi,

I'm due to add some campden to several of my wines that I'm leaving in the one gallon jug for another few months. There's just a very light dusting of lees on the bottom of the jug. My understanding is that I don't need to worry about this, I can leave it and it won't affect the wine quality. Eventually, I was going to bottle without racking, just being careful not to suck up the lees.


But, what happens when I stir in the campden? The lees will get mixed up in the wine, will it take months for it to settle again? or will it fall out quickly, since the wine has already cleared and is just being stirred?

 

[Green Mountains]

I would def rack before adding and stirring. Each time you rack you allow the finshed wine to be that much better.

 

[djrockinsteve]

If I had a very fine amount of lees in the bottom of my carboy I would leave it alone, however if you are going to add "anything" I would rack again. Avoid splashing which would add additional air into the wine.

What I'm curious about (needing more info.) you said "I'm due to add some camden tablets". As long as you added prior to this racking, you shouldn't be adding any more unless your racking again.

Maybe I'm missing something??? Awww here come the jokes now!

 

[Newbie]

If I had a very fine amount of lees in the bottom of my carboy I would leave it alone, however if you are going to add "anything" I would rack again. Avoid splashing which would add additional air into the wine.

What I'm curious about (needing more info.) you said "I'm due to add some camden tablets". As long as you added prior to this racking, you shouldn't be adding any more unless your racking again.

Maybe I'm missing something??? Awww here come the jokes now!

Maybe I'm the one missing something! The wines have been sitting for almost 3 months, aging (I've been so good!) and I thought that I'm supposed to add a compden every couple of months, even if I haven't racked them.

 

[djrockinsteve]

For myself, once I've fermented, racked, cleared, racked I'll bulk age for 6 months for fruits and whites, 1 year for reds. Then bottle. If for some reason I need to rack again I'll add just a pinch of P.M. I've already added P.M. earlier so not much is needed provided you keep an airlock on it, maintain a cool non sunny environment, and leave it alone. Too much P.M. isn't good for your wines.

Others here may have a slightly different approach. It's what works for you to create good, if not great wine. If you are making this from a kit, I'm not knowledgable in that area.

 

[Luc]

As long as the wine is undisturbed there is no need for additional sulphite.

Compare it to a wine that is bottled, you can not add sulphite in that situation too..........

About stirring the lees.
Shaking the carboy every now and then might even improve your wine. Indeed it takes time for the lees to settle again, but so what, you are aging anyhow.
However aging on the lees (sur lees is it called in France) might give the wine a perception of sweetness and improves the mouthfeel.

Luc

 

[summersolstice]

I'll add k-meta at the beginning of bulk aging. I may add more k-meta after several months but I won't bother racking off the fine lees - they never hurt anything.

 

[Newbie]

About stirring the lees.
Shaking the carboy every now and then might even improve your wine. Indeed it takes time for the lees to settle again, but so what, you are aging anyhow.
However aging on the lees (sur lees is it called in France) might give the wine a perception of sweetness and improves the mouthfeel.

Luc

Luc, I was wondering about that and didn't get around to asking the question... will stirring the lees improve a fruit wine? I have a three on the go that have been racked off the fruit (1st racking). Should I stir it up a bit every few days before I rack again?: