When fermentation is complete, the yeast sink to the bottom and form a yeast depot. During the first racking the young wine is separated from this yeast depot. This is the first step after fermentation is complete. From here on, all further steps of the winemaking process have to be carried out with even more care than before. Losses of carbonic acid or aroma due to unnecessary pumping or incompletely filled tanks have to be avoided. Whenever possible, we only work with gravity when racking. For the always-full tanks we use the elevator for this purpose. With larger tanks we first balance the level according to the principle of "communicating tubes" and only use the pump afterwards.
Racking with the help of gravity
Communicating tubes