Splash Racking

[Lurker]

My 09 Chianti is aging in a carboy. When I made it, I used too much sulfite and I thought it would dissipate a little more quickly than it has. When I checked it last week, it was at 50 ppm. So this afternoon, I decided to start splash racking it. I had moved it to one gallon jugs so it would not be too difficult. I splashed the gallon into a fermenter 5 times and it was down to 45 ppm, then 5 more splashings and it was down to 40 ppm and by then I was warn out. Ph is 3.43. I know the book says it should be down to about 20 ppm. I have 4 more gallon jugs that I know have to be done so I'm not anxious to splash them more than ten times each. Any ideas or thoughts or am I stuck with continuing the same thing? It's not that I have to do it all at one time, I can take my time with it. Two questions; will the SO2 dissipate more and is it low enough now? But if there is a better way to get it down...?

 

[Wade E]

4.43? Id be more worried about the ph then the ppm's.

 

[Lurker]

Oops, 3.43. Right ya r Wade.

 

[Wade E]

Okay, thats wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better 20 ppm is the recommended doasge for that, seems a little low. According to the sulfite calc I use the desired S02 for this wine would be 34ppm

 

[djrockinsteve]

Lurker can you blend it with a wine that's low in sulfite? Let it age longer and check it again in a few weeks. Let the new rackings work.

 

[Lurker]

Steve, I’m really not a “blend it guy”, I have never blended my wine because it seems that Chianti should be Chianti not a mixture. It may sound foolish, but that’s me. However, if I wasn’t so foolish, it a good idea. I guess you have a diff. SO2 calc. than I Wade. I like yours better than mine, it makes me think that I can leave it as it is since it’s not so far off. 34 is a lot diff. than 20. Do you guys think I can leave it at 40 ppm? I know I should have tasted it (its not too late) then I would know better.
Steve, you said let the new rackings work, Do you think it will continue to change?

 

[Wade E]

I would take a sip myself and see if you can taste the sulfite, if not then leave it as it will go down over time either in bulk aging or in the bottle but a little slower that way unless you have bad cellar conditions which actually could make it dissipate faster. I use the sulfite calc that is right on this site. We have spent some time uploading all this stuff and going through which ones were good or too generic.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=65

 

[Lurker]

I finally got around to tasting it. This wine will never again be touched. It is very good. Splash racking definitely works.

 

[AlFulchino]

splash racking is a winning technique and is a practice that when first done successfully will prove to a young winemaker that O2 is equal as a friend as it is an enemy

 

[Lurker]

splash racking is a winning technique and is a practice that when first done successfully will prove to a young winemaker that O2 is equal as a friend as it is an enemy

Thank you Al. I haven't been called young in a long time. But you're right, a little O2 is a good thing as long as the sulfite is there. There's nothing like O2 to combat sulfite and nothing like sulfite to combat O2. It seems to me that for the most part, we are overly fearful of oxygen.