Racking White Wine

Check the end of the fermentation by measuring residual sugar.  A white wine should have a residual sugar of 0.2% or less.  Visual signs that the fermentation is over are a slowing in the release of carbon dioxide and a settling of the yeast.

The siphoning hose should be kept below the surface of the wine when racking to exclude oxygen as much as possible.  Oxygen contact from this point on generally has a negative affect on white wine quality.  Fifty parts per million (50 ppm) SO₂ should be added to the wine once it has finished fermenting (residual sugar of 0.2% or less) and has been racked.