racking question

[gunwolf]

I have 3 gal of wild grape,3gal of concord grape, and 5 gal of apple cin. all were started in august-sept. they have all been racked into the secondary's.
first question,
my 3 gal of wild grape I racked into the secondary on sept 9th 2011, I plan on racking again this month. should I degas at this time? I will probably rack at least once more in the spring. also should I add sorbate at this rack? I do not plan on back sweetening but may do a partial at bottleing.
all my wines are clearing nicely, I let my last batch of wine sit for over a year before bottleing, but still had a little sediment in the bottles after a few months. what can I do to prevent this?

thanks for the help.

 

[MrWino]

When I rack my wines I degas them but I do not add sorbate until I am ready to bottle. I have been using a clarifier in my wines and it works very good especially with white wines. My whites do not have any sediment after bottling Even after using it on reds I still get some sediment in the bottles. When I open a bottle I usually pour it slowly into a carafe and stop when I see sediment. The clarifier I use is kitosol 40. You just pour each pack in, stir gently and with 2 weeks it is done. I also store my wine in a cold storage area while it is clearing.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Degassing at 1st rack is recommended. Sediment will fall faster plus at warm temperatures. Use a good fining material such as sparkolloid or bentonite. Rack 4-6 weeks after adding that.

Add sorbate if and when you sweeten. Even reds are greatly enhanced with a minute amount of sugar added.

 

[JohnT]

I would suggest (as above) that you sorbate. Cold stabilizing would also help.