The Vintners Reserve Merlot that I’ve had fermenting in the cellar was degassed and stabilized today. The wine reached full dryness last week, but I was unable to get to the degassing until today. As I have found in the past, the easiest way to degas is to remove about a third of the wine from its carboy before whipping with the degassing wand. I added the packet of metabisulphite and sorbate to the wine and mixed it thoroughly for 2 minutes. Then, I racked another third of the wine into the temporary carboy and added the isinglass fining agent. This way, I am mixing all of these ingredients well. After 2 minutes of mixing all of the above, I racked all the wine from the temporary carboy back into the original. I re-sanitized the air lock just in case.
Now, I’ll have it set still and settle for another month or so until it is clear enough for bottling.