The French say that "The lees feed the wine". The wine WILL benefit from fine lees.
Gross lees are another story.
"jim" > wrote in message ...
Please forgive the complete newbie-pre-novice.

I wondered why you'd want to leave it on the lees? Is it for practicalities sake or is there some benefit amongst the
'dangers'?

Jim

"gene" > wrote in message . net...
> The 'occasionally' can be once per week to once per month. You don't want the wine to oxidize due to the sulfite
> being consumed as it protects the wine, so don't forget to keep the potassium metabisulfate concentration up. With
> these stirrings, you are repeatedly exposing the wine to air (granted, it is only for short periods and 'recovers'
> within a day or so).
>
> I've also done sur lie aging in carboys in the refrigerator... you don't have to stir as often because the yeast
> doesn't decompose as readily when it's cold. Once a month is plenty in this case.
>
> I've also done sur lie aging of 'whole berry' fermented zinfandel wine. [Please note that in this case, I crushed just
> enough grapes to 'cover' the must in liquid during primary fermentation (done by 'finger squeeze' crushing in the
> fermenter). The rest were just de-stemmed.] I liked the result. YMMV
>
> Gene
>
>
>
> Joe Sallustio wrote:
>
>> I don't think so, it's important to stir the lees occasionally if you
>> do this. If you don't you can get a pretty nasty odor from the
>> decomposing yeast.
>>
>> Once wine is finished you can certainly use a solid bung if you want
>> to.
>>
>> If you are talking after the first rack off the gross sediment and the
>> relatively thin layers that form later, you are OK to let that be.
>> Just smell it once in a while to ensure no hydrogen sulfide is forming
>> during the first few months.
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> SubTropical wrote:
>>
>>>Although I visit this group only sporadically, I seem to recall someone here
>>>a few months ago saying that it was o.k. to let wine sit in the secondary on
>>>the lees, but that it was a good idea to replace the airlock with a solid
>>>rubber stopper. Did I remember this advice correctly? Thanks...
>>