How sensitive is this whole topping up thing anyway?
 

Everything I read/hear says to top up carboys once off the secondary.
Of course I understand that, but how sensitive are the wines to
oxidation time-wise? I.E. 5 minutes or 5 days?

The reason I ask is I'm finding it difficult to manage the changing
volumes in the process. When you rack off sediment you now have
ullage that needs to be managed. So you top up but later you'd like
to add something else (juice for example) but you have to remove wine
to do so. This oxidation thing is not convenient.

How sensitive is this whole topping up thing anyway?
 

There is not a definite answer to your question. 5 min. probably will not
hurt a thing. 5 days ... That depends. If unsulfited you are in trouble.
If it is properly sulfited, ... that depends as well. What is the surface
area over which the air is acting? If it is a carboy filled up into the
neck so the surface area is small, probably it will not ruin the wine though
it is not good for it. If it is a carboy that is filled below the neck so
there is a large surface area, you are probably in trouble.

The solution: Keep them toped up.
The method: There are several. My choice is to have a variety of carboy
sizes on hand so I can go to a carboy that is about the proper size so I do
not have to add much top up fluid. From a 6 go to a 5, from a 5 go to four
1's and a 1/2. Then to do the little topping up necessary, use a similar
wine or water. Do not use fruit juice unless you want a sweet wine. If you
do, this is fine but use sorbate and sulfite to prevent a refermentation or
you are right back where you started.

Another method is to purge the air space with a more or less inert gas. You
can use CO2 or N2 effectively.

Ray

"glad heart" > wrote in message
om...
> Everything I read/hear says to top up carboys once off the secondary.
> Of course I understand that, but how sensitive are the wines to
> oxidation time-wise? I.E. 5 minutes or 5 days?
>
> The reason I ask is I'm finding it difficult to manage the changing
> volumes in the process. When you rack off sediment you now have
> ullage that needs to be managed. So you top up but later you'd like
> to add something else (juice for example) but you have to remove wine
> to do so. This oxidation thing is not convenient.

How sensitive is this whole topping up thing anyway?
 

>The reason I ask is I'm finding it difficult to manage the changing
>volumes in the process.

Have some wine on hand for topping up. I use a similar wine from last
year.

If you're a first-year winemaker, buy some "innocuous" white and red
wine for the purpose.

vince norris

How sensitive is this whole topping up thing anyway?
 

> Everything I read/hear says to top up carboys once off the secondary.
> Of course I understand that, but how sensitive are the wines to
> oxidation time-wise? I.E. 5 minutes or 5 days?
>

Others who are more knowledgeable can probably tell us how
sensitive it is. I think this is one of the areas where
you need to pay attention and try to do more not less. If I
remember correctly, Lum once responded to a posting of mine
that a 4 hour drip filtering (because I had added a second
pad) was getting dicey.

Another tip that I use after racking, is to give the carboy
a little swirl to force out some CO2 and displace the O2
in the neck.

Don