Dick Adams wrote:

> Lee > wrote
>> This question concerns how often to rack. I'm
>> referring to making grape wine from fresh red
>> grapes, in carboys.
>>
>> My routine is to do the primary fermentation in
>> an open
>> tub. I'll often innoculate with ML just prior
>> to the
>> completion of the primary. Once the primary is
>> completed, I'll press, let the wine settle, and
>> then
>> rack after a day or so. But once the ML is
>> completed, which usually takes about a month,
>> I'll be left with a filled carboy with about
>> 1/2 to 1 inch of debri on the
>> bottom. Do you all rack at that point? Or do
>> you let
>> the wine age on its lees? I usually cold
>> stabilize in my garage over the winter (in
>> Maryland, we can count on
>> 3 weeks or so of consistently cold weather).
>> Then I usually rack at the end of winter.
>
> Only three weeks? I also live in Maryland -
> just west of Ballmer The City that Slurs - and I
> get 10 to 12 weeks of consistently cold weather.
>
>> Does this sound about right? I'm wondering
>> what the effect of letting the wine sit on 1
>> inch of dead yeast cells for 3-4 months does.
>
> I make Mead, not wine. My experience with
> letting the must
> sit on the dead yeast cells is called
> "autolysis". Call it
> "auto lee sis" or "auto ly sis". It is still a
> foul odor and a foul taste.
>
>> Also, I'm not sure if the debri in the bottom
>> of the
>> carboy can accurately be called "lees". It's
>> really not old grape skins or stems...it's just
>> dead yeast.
>
> It's still garbage by any other name.
>
>> Any thoughts?
>
> I rack when primary fermentation is complete.
> My Meads do not need an ML fermentation. I rack
> again two months later.
>
> Dick

Mead is a lot different than wine, as I am finding
out by making my first meads. I value your input
on meads and I have no reason to doubt that you
are correct about the racking issue with meads -
I defer to your experience.

However, with wines, I think it is a different
story. The French have an expression "The Lees
Feed the Wine". It is a good idea to
periodically stir and smell but the wine will
benefit from clean lees contact.