I am making wine for the first time using a 1 gallon kit for Pinot Grigio. When transferring to my secondary fermentor, I was not able to get all of the wine out for fear of moving over the sediment. I am concerned that when I top off on day 22, that the wine will taste watered down. I am including a picture of the wine in the secondary fermentor. Can anyone tell me if this is ok?
That’s quite a bit of room, which is air exposure. I would buy a cheap bottle of Pinot Grigio and top off.
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I was just going to say: I buy a cheap bottle of something similar, and use that for topping off.
Don’t be afraid to get a little bit of stuff that gets stirred up. Each time you rack you will leave more behind. Next time make 1.5gallons or so to start. I have a 3 gallon bucket I do my primary in that gives me plenty to get the gallon filled. Like what the was said get a bottle of Pinot G and top it up. I wouldn’t be to cheap some of that bottom shelf is nasty
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Thank you for your input. I had a bottle of Pinot Gris on the wine rack, so added some of that. Was a good excuse to have a glass with dinner! In the future I will be more aggressive about getting all of the wine transferred.
I agree with the comment to not worry so much about getting some of the yeast over to your secondary and the need to top off to minimize oxygen diffusion into the wine. The rate of oxygen diffusion is proportional to the surface area exposed to air and the concentration of oxygen. So getting the level up in the neck of the gallon container will have a big impact in reducing oxygen diffusion.
If your kit does not contain kieselsol and chitosan and you want extremely clear wine add in some kieselsoI after you degass the wine. Wait a bit then add chitosan. My kit said wait 2 minutes for the pinot. This combination is phenominal in clearing wine. My pinot came out extremely clear by doing this.
Every time you rack you will lose a little.
So I only do two racks.
After primary. And again for storage.
Maybe you should consider an auto siphon. Most have a tip that keeps it about 1/2 inch above the lees. When I get ready to rack the night before I put a small object to raise one side about 12 mm so I get as much as possible
