I am a true believer that one should ALWAYS taste their wine through the
whole process. TASTE THEM ALL

--
Roger & Lynda

"hammerstein" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a couple of probably quite basic winemaking questions that I've
> been unable to find satisfactory answers for on the web or by using
> google groups. I've lurked for a couple of weeks and you all seem like
> nice fellows, so here goes:
>
> Firstly, I'm a little unsure of exactly how to go about racking wine.
> I know the process involves syphoning the good stuff from the crap
> stuff sand sediment at the bottom of the bucket or DJ, but I'd
> appreciate a little more specifics on the matter. For example, is it
> okay to draw a little of the sediment through the hose during racking,
> or is it worth leaving a little of the wine on the sediment in order
> to prevent this. Also, is it okay to tip the DJ towards the end of the
> process to get the most juice out, or will this just swill the
> sediment around?
>
> WRT the tomato wine in the subject line, I started making this on
> sunday according to the recipe for red tomato wine on jack keller's
> site. Until I added the yeast, the solution happily separated into
> sediment and the watery juice stuff. Now, three days after adding the
> yeast (which seems to be doing it's thing judging by the bubbles and
> the smell), the liquid is a constant cloudy orange colour. Is this a
> good or bad sign?
>
> Is it okay to taste the wine when I rack it into a secondary? I
> appreciate I might do this by accident when starting the siphoning,
> but is it a good idea to taste it and if so, is there a way to tell if
> all is going well? I don't particularly want to nurse it through
> months of clearing if it's destined to be disgusting from the outset.
> ;o)
>
> j.
>
>