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Wino_&_I_Know

Junior
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Started my first Kit - RJS Super Tuscan. Found this site and have been frantically reading previous posts to increase my understanding of wine making. Soo very informative and useful. Found info on EM and I wanted to incorporate this but not get too crazy as this is my first attempt. Started 12/19 with SP of 1.092. The directions state for Step 2 to rack to Secondary at 1.02 or lower (@day 6-8) remove skins and add Pectinase, then Step 3 when at 0.998 rerack and add 2A Sulphite, Potassium "Sorbate, Kieselsol and Chitosan (approximately day14).
I decided to leave skins in and it is now day 18 with a SP of 0.993. The bag of skins are still floating up top. I did punch it down 2 a day while the fermentation was active and then shaked the bottle to wet the skins when the activity slowed down in order to minimize oxygen exposure from taking the bung out.
Now I am unsure of what to do next. Options I am considering:
1. Leave skins/lees in and continue? But how long before issues can come up? 2 more weeks or longer? If I go this route, do I still perform Step 2 before Step 3.
2. Go to Step 2 now. Could I but the bag with skins back in for additional soaking? How long to leave skins in before going to Step 3.
Looking for advice and suggestions. As the saying goes, the smart man learns from experience, but the wise man learns from the experience of others.
Thanks
 
I'd get on with step 2 now. And after 24 hours add the ingredients for step 3 without racking again.

The extra time with skin contact had already extracted loads of tannin that will take some time to soften with age. If you like oak, this is a good time to add some cubes.

As always once the wine has finished fermenting, you will want to keep oxygen exposure to a minimum. This means eliminating headspace in the carboy and being cautious about splashing when racking. There will still be a lot of dissolved CO2 but that will devolve with time.
 
Welcome to WMT!

I agree with @jgmillr1 -- he has it exactly right.

Sometimes the potassium sorbate is in a sachet that is combined with the potassium sulfite (a.k.a., k-meta), and sometimes they are in two separate sachets. If they are separate, you may safely omit the sorbate. You do not need it, and some say it imparts a bubble gum flavor.
 
OK, thanks for the responses. Tonight, I racked to the carboy and added Pectinase. I have made a couple of minor errors so far on this kit, initially spilled small amount of juice adding to carboy and cut back a little on the water (got a funnel now), had a lot of gas/foam come out during fermentation. I think I am short about 1.5 bottles looking at the carboy, I will get some wine to top off to keep oxygen minimized.

Had some issues getting all the wine over into carboy. Picked up some of the bottom sediment when I siphoned the wine over. If I do not rack again, which is best method to remove any left over sediment before I bottle?
The kit has one sulphite and two potassium sorbate packages. I will eliminate the potassium sorbate. I assume that I should degas the wine before adding anything.
This sound right?
Regards,
 
I would recommend waiting a few weeks and racking again. A small amount of sediment wont hurt you now, but racking is the only way to remove it.
I also don't degas unless I am going to bottle soon, it will degas on its own usually over time. It should not effect adding your k-meta.
 
At the first racking, I don't intentionally transfer sediment, but I don't worry if some gets sucked up in the racking tube. The wine is full of suspended solids, so adding a bit more doesn't make much difference.

Once you've adding a fining agent (typically kieselsol/chitosan), at each additional racking you want to be careful of transferring sediment.

If using a racking tube, there should be a piece at the bottom that helps avoid sediment. Wine enters from above which prevents directly sucking up sediment. Note that if the sediment layer is thick, it will get sucked in.

Racking tube 2.jpg

I put a wedge under an edge of the carboy to tilt it a bit. When racking, initially I hold the cane so the bottom is in the middle of the carboy, no where near sediment. As the wine level drops, I move the end of the cane down, pointing it towards the lowest point in the carboy.

When the carboy is nearly empty, I eyeball the wine & sediment -- if I see sediment being sucked up, I stop the siphon. With red wine this is tougher to see, so make sure the area is well lighted.

Often I pour the remainder from the carboy into a taller, narrow bottle (typically a 750 ml or 1.5 liter clear wine bottle) and put it in the fridge for a week. The sediment will settle rather quickly and you can carefully siphon the clear wine off the top. Sometimes this doesn't work (when the sediment is very compact), but I typically recover half of the bottle.
 

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