431 



After keeping for another year or two in clean casks, kept well 

 filled and racked twice the second year and once the third year, it 

 will be wholesome to drink and fit to bottle. 



How TO RACK WINE. 



This operation, which has for its object the removal of the 

 clearer wine from over its sediment at the bottom of the cask 

 and its transference to clean casks provided for its reception, is 

 accomplished in a variety of ways, governed by local practice and by 

 the nature of the appliances at hand. 



The more generally used methods are : 



(i.) The drawing of the wine direct from one cask to another by 

 means of a hose or syphon. 



(2.) The transferring from one cask to another by means of pails or 

 buckets. 



(3,) The drawing by means of a pump. 



The first of these methods is largely practised in the Bordeaux 

 district and in Burgundy, and answers very well for transferring 

 the more delicate wines quickly from one hogshead to another 

 without exposing them too much to the action of the air. It must 

 be remembered that these hogsheads are piled up in tiers one above 

 the other. A hose connects the tap-hole of one hogshead to the 

 other,- and the wine from the full cask passes on to the empty one, 

 if they are at the same height, till the level in each hogshead 

 balances. By means of a pump fixed to the bung-hole of the first 

 hogshead air is then forced into the cask, and extra pressure 

 causing the wine to rise into the second cask until the contents of 

 one have been transferred to the other. When the hogsheads of the 

 second tier are decanted into the hogsheads of the lower one no 

 air-pump is required, and the wine flows down by gravitation. The 

 whistling noise of air getting into the hose tells that one of the 

 hogsheads is almost empty ; the hose is then disconnected, the cask 

 gently tilted, and what clear wine remains in it is collected into a 

 wooden pail, frequent samples being taken in a glass to show 

 exactly the moment the slightest cloudiness is detected, when the 

 racking must be stopped. 



The second method of transferring from one cask to another 

 by means of pails and other small vessels is still much used in some 

 districts, and notably at Macon, in France, and in small private 

 cellars. This method, however, is not advisable, except for young 

 and full-bodied and heavy wines, as it favours too much exposure 

 to air. 



The method of racking by means of a pump is much preferable, 

 being the more rapid and involving the employment of less hand 

 labour. It is much used, especially in the more modern and best 

 equipped cellars of the South of France, where wine is generally, 

 like in Australia, stored in large-sized casks. In most cases an 

 India-rubber hose with brass-fitting is screwed on any of the casks, 



