Wine whip technique

Winemaking
1

What is the best way to use the wine whip? By that I mean is it best to insert it fully into the wine or is it better to have it toward the top? Is there anything that should be avoided or is desired such as vortex size, etc?

What is the best visual indicator that degassing has been done thoroughly? It seems like I can always create bubbles.

2

Here is what we have done at our store for years (very effective.)

Technique one - Short burst.
*starting at bottom go full throttle on drill and slowly pull up until head of whip is at the surface (don’t pull head out of wine).
*reverse direction and short burst back down to bottom.
*burst should be 3-5 seconds

  • be carefull on first couple attempts (could gush if very gassy)
  • up and down motions should be very gradual.

Technique two - whip (whirlpool)

  • at medium throttle whip wine in a whirlpool while slowly moving drill up and down (very gradually)

Our schedule:

  1. Quick 2 short bursts then wait to see how gassy the wine is.
  2. 2 full minutes of short bursts (usually taking a break between each minute)
  3. 1 minute whirlpool forward. Rest
  4. 1 minute whirlpool reverse. Rest
  5. Add sulphite / sorbate
  6. Whirlpool 1 minute each direction (rest between)
    6b) Add F pack and whirlpool 1 minute
  7. Add fining and stir 30 sec at low throttle.

First couple of times you may want to lay back a bit to avoid a big mess. As you get better with the whip the idea is to go as hard as you can without losing control of the wine.