CHAPTER X. 



OF P^^CKING. 



But tlie lees, once precipitated, may mingle auevr, and muddy the 

 clarified wine ; or even produce a new fermentation and injure the 

 quality. For this reason the wine must be removed from the lees. 

 Some rack the wine in December, if it is well cleared, and they 

 wish to transport it ; others do it only once a year in February or 

 March. In some places the wine requires to be racked twice during 

 the first year, once at the beginning of spring and a second time at 

 the end of September, or towards the end of Decembei during sharp, 

 clear frost, and about the middle of May. Wines that are mild 

 should be racked soonest, with harsh, hard wines it should be de- 

 layed longer. Rich high-flavoured wines may lie on the lees three 

 and four years, and only be shifted every two years, without injury. 

 Such are the red wines of the Marne river, and especially from the 

 St. Thierry enclosure near R-heims. But in general, wines should 

 be removed from the coarse lees before the spring equinox. There 

 are. however, cases, in which the lees and wine are better left toge- 

 ther than separated, for the sake of prolonging the fermentation and 

 ripening the wine ; but it must be done with great watchfulness ; 

 the moment the wine shows a tendency to pass to the acid degree of 

 fermentation, it must be racked without delay and transported into 

 a colder place it it is turbid, it should be fined before racking. The 

 most suitable time for the operation is fine, clear weather, especially 

 as regards the first racking. It should never be attempted while the 

 Vine is in blossom ; at that time the wine undergoes an accelerated 

 internal ferment, and should be kept as quiet as possible. 



For racking, the head of the cask must be pierced about three fin- 

 ger's breadths from the chine ; this is done with a tap-augur large 

 enough to make the opening at once ; as soon as a drop of the liquor 

 shows, it has pierced enough ; the gunblet is withdrawn and the cock 

 put in its place ; the faucet must be turned just so far that the wine 

 will flow through the channel without the air disturbing the surface 

 of the liquid as it passes. As soon as the cock is fixed, the bung must 

 be gradu^allV lifted as gently as possible, to give entrance to tlie extet- 



