Racking into demijohns

[bramblepear]

When you rack into demijohns to enable natural clearing of sediment, do you need to top up with anything to minimize the air at the wine surface? Subsequent rackings are les and less volume, but concerned if I top up with eg water, they will become more and more dilute? Or do I need to rack into bottles at these stages?

 

[DavieC]

Hi ,bramblepear, what have you made?
Some people put sanitised marbles in the demijohn to take up some of the volume,

 

[bramblepear]

Various wines - dandelion, oak leaf, elderflower, --- had never thought of using sanitised marbles to help

 

[Tavi-brewer]

Hi
Firstly, what is your worry about losing volume?
You do lose a bit of volume per rack but don't worry too much about headspace. To be honest I only ever rack twice, maybe a third before bottling so 200ml isn't unusual to lose?
I often find that topping up with water to a sensible level on the curve of the neck if needed doesn't noticeably alter the ABV or SG. I've had a gallon DJ half full during clearing with no issue.
Beer is different I understand as the lower ABV makes it more susceptible to failure and oxidation?
The use of marbles is something I've never heard of but understand the logic.
Oak leaf is something I've never heard of!! Awesome.
T

 

[Stevieboy]

Don't worry about the small loss of volume - once racked, give your DJ a bit of a shake, to release some of the trapped CO2, you should see your airlock bubble once or twice - it will purge some of the O2, and help degas your vino.