"Racking" 2012 Brianna

It has been just over 4 weeks since we started fermentation on our 2012 Brianna. We initially racked (aka pumped) the juice off of the gross lees (skin pieces, pulp, other initial solids) the day after pressing.  We added yeast and fermentation finished after three weeks. The yeasts ate all the sugar in the juice and died off, and settled to the bottom of the tank, (see the pics below). This sediment is called the "fine lees," and is left behind when the wine is transferred to a clean tank.  The next step will be to add bentonite to the wine to further clarify and start cold stabilization!  More to come....