May 2015
To top up or not?
May, 2015 Filed in: Wine making
We are getting a lot of questions these days on the recent changes in instructions in our Winexpert kits. The instructions now tell us that we should not top up after the clearing stage. Whoa!
For years they have been recommending that you add water if the level of wine in the carboy is at or below the shoulders of the carboy. We usually recommend adding a similar wine (red for red, white with white). And now they are saying not to.
What’s the change? Well if makes sense when you think about it. The instructions tell you to rack and bottle the wine, two weeks after the stabilizing and clearing stage. The reason you topped up was to prevent oxidation due to the large surface area presented by wine that is not topped up in the carboy. Wine will not oxidize in two weeks, it is just not enough time, so there is no reason to top up.
However, if you wish to leave the wine in the carboy longer than the 2 weeks, or if you choose to bulk age your wine in the carboy, then we strongly recommend you top up your wine to minimize the surface area on the top of the wine, so that your wine will not get oxidized.
For years they have been recommending that you add water if the level of wine in the carboy is at or below the shoulders of the carboy. We usually recommend adding a similar wine (red for red, white with white). And now they are saying not to.
What’s the change? Well if makes sense when you think about it. The instructions tell you to rack and bottle the wine, two weeks after the stabilizing and clearing stage. The reason you topped up was to prevent oxidation due to the large surface area presented by wine that is not topped up in the carboy. Wine will not oxidize in two weeks, it is just not enough time, so there is no reason to top up.
However, if you wish to leave the wine in the carboy longer than the 2 weeks, or if you choose to bulk age your wine in the carboy, then we strongly recommend you top up your wine to minimize the surface area on the top of the wine, so that your wine will not get oxidized.