Duck Redbeard wrote:
I am doing my first kit wine, a vintners reserve chianti. Thank you all for
the great advice so far. Today's question is one that has been buggin me as
of late.

On Feb 7, I did the "stabilising and clearing" and it is remarkably clear at
this point, only 8 days later.

I'm assuming you added some type of fining when you say "clearing".
This usually causes lees that are fluffier than yeast or tartrate
sediment. It's more likely to be kicked up when the carboy is moved.

I can shine a flashlight on the carboy and see light through the wine.

This concernes me a bit. The real test is to shine the flashlight
perpendicular to your view and NOT see the light beam. If you're
shining the light 180 degrees from your view point and see the light,
there can still be a lot of junk suspended in the wine.

How dense is this sediment? Can I move the carboy (carrying it upstairs) on
the day I intend to bottle it? Should I rack it into a different carboy for
bottling?

This would be my first choice, although I would rack and give it some
more time before bottling.

Should I move the carboy to the kitchen the day before I bottle it and just bottle from the carboy?


IMHO, not a good idea although the downside is just some sediment
forming in the bottle. That's not the end of the world. To me, tt
sounds like this wine still needs some time in secondary.

Andy