This traditional practice has proved to be the most gentle and precise method of racking. It is now only applied in the greatest châteaux as it is a long and difficult technique: it requires two people throughout the year and consists in separating the wine from its lees, taking account of the characteristics of each barrel and without using a pump. The racked wines are then returned to the same type of barrel so as to preserve the typical character of the batch.
Before racking, rigorous tasting of the vintage in each type of barrel is a ritual and allows precise monitoring of the development of the wine. At the end of spring, the filtration before bottling will be even lighter and will not put the integrity of the wine in danger.
