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How to Rack Wine

If any wine gives these creatives the presence of lead is conclusively proved.

How to Rack Wine.

In racking wine intended to be bottled, the first object is to procure a fresh cask, emptied of as good wine as possible; then we ought to be particular in the cleanliness of the cans or vessels made use of in the operation; the shive should be loosened in order to allow the wine full and efficient vent while it is running off; and before we commence racking, we ought to bore a vent-hole in the bung stave of the empty cask, either before or behind the funnel, so that the confined air in the empty cask may escape as we pour in the wine. By this means we prevent the wine becoming impregnated with the air previously contained in the empty cask, which air we may plainly hear escape from the vent-hole as the cask fills, and we hereby also prevent any bubbling over from the funnel, thus precluding the possibility of the wine imbibing by contact any new element, which is a very essential precaution to be observed in racking operations, especially with delicate wines. Moreover, the wine, after being thus racked, immediately regains its quietude, and as soon as the bottoms are bagged, if you think proper to do so, the bright wine from the bag may be mixed with the finings, and the wine then fined and shived up. It must be borne in mind, that after racking wines from the deposited lee, a moderate fining only is required. In the adoption of this mode we can depend on wines retaining their perfect condition and brilliancy, so as to fit them for immediate bottling if desired, or if left to rest, their amelioration will be promoted by the operation. Some imagine that wines lose both character and body