Need for secondary fermentor?

What you say is doable... depending on the style of wine you wish to make. If you leave the wine in the primary, you will be aging on the lees (sur lie in French). This gives yeasty overtones to the wine, a nice touch for some.. too much for others. This is more practiced on whites than on reds. Such an extended contact with skins and seeds (very extended maceration) gives a very heavy, tannic wine which some like but many do not.

The major reason to rack to a secondary fermentor is to leave as little headspace as practical, i.e. to minimize oxidation. Your primary fermentor is typically only half to two-thirds full. So, while doable, not generally recommended. I have done this and know others who also have.

Gene

Dumpster wrote:

Thanks for the reply Gene. I was worried about the amount of headspace as well, but then got to thinking, if CO2 is venting out of the airlock, this would push all O2 out wouldn't it? Any CO2 that didn't escape the air lock would remain after fermentation was complete until I opened the fermenter. Is this correct or am I missing the mark? BTW, I'm using a

gene wrote in news:pXpMf.16862$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com:

I would say the "MOST (not any) CO2 that didn't escape the air lock would remain after fermentation was complete until I opened the fermenter". No seal is perfect, and the risk is of getting some ethyl acetate defect in your wine (i.e. a first sign that spoilage is starting is the production of ethyl acetate). While a small amount of ethyl acetate will not ruin your wine, it will be noticeable, and is a pungent fruity 'very ripe pineapple' aroma defect which your nose can detect at about 4ppm.

Gene

Dumpster wrote: