Thanks Tom and Ben. I do not dispute your statements at all and I am sure
that what you say is true. I can only say that I have not had a problem
doing it the way I stated.

I think it does go to show that winemaking is a total process. Somehow, the
total way I make wine has not had this problem where their method has. My
method may have other problems that their method does not. Certainly, not
every batch I make comes out the way I want it to. I started not worrying
about gross leas when I heard about wineries leaving their wine on the skins
for 3 to 4 weeks to get maximum color extraction. Other things led to it as
well.

Eventually every winemaker must developed an over all method that works for
him and, even if a qualified expert says he should do things differently, he
should deviate from that method carefully. For this reason I recommend that
new winemakers get a good book on winemaking that outlines general
procedures and learns from it so he gets a total procedure down rather than
trying to learn from this group where he will get bits and pieces of many
procedures. He can then get advise from this group and deviate from the
procedure in the book until he has developed his own method.

Ray

"Ben Rotter" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Ray Calvert wrote:
>> It is true that if you leave the gross leas for several months you can
>> have
>> a problem with H2S. But a few weeks or up to a month is not going to
>> cause
>> a problem.
>
> I disagree with that too. The order of weeks can certainly be
> problematic with regards to reductive problems. Of course, it depends
> on the turbidity and the size of the vessel, but in some cases H2S can
> be seen within a week.
>
>> You don't want to end up doing 4 or 5 or more racking, each of
>> which looses wine, when you do not have to.
>
> Racking isn't solely a process for clarification, oxygen exposure
> should also be considered. Racking should be conducted with both in
> mind.
>
> Ben
>