Degassing?

[Rikki]

Hi All,
I've been making fruit wines for many years now - and have only recently read online about degassing - removal of CO2. I've never found the need for it and none of my winemaking books refer to degassing, Is this for kit wines only, where the fermentation period is significantly shorter?
I'd be interested in your comments and advice please.
Regards,
Rikki

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think it was Dutto who said he never degases his wine and he ages his for long periods therefore i assume its something that was in the original wurzels orange wine instructions and it is still being done today, i know from experience not degassing makes clearing to take much longer.

 

[engineer]

Same here, made wine of all sorts back in the late 70's and 80's and never degassed anything in my life. I did/do rack at least 2 or 3 times so i suspect that may have something to do with it. In addition the use of potassium sorbate to stabilise the wine and prevent further fermentation obviously helps to reduce further gas build up.

 

[chewie]

If you want wine that is clear and ready to drink in hours then fining agents are pretty much necessary but the wine needs to be degassed for them to work at there full potential. Co2 will dissipate naturally over time from wine where it has someway of escaping or is in a container that is not filled to full, no different than the coke bottle that has the lid left of or sits less than half full for 2 months. If you aren't to bothered about waiting and have the space to leave DJ's/FV's sitting around clearing naturally there is no need to degass.