Racking advice

[halfastory]

New to the group and its been a great discovery as I fumble through my first attempt at winemaking.
I'm making a Beaverdale Californian red kit and it all apppears to have gone okay so far. Finished degassing a few days ago and its clearing nicely with an inch or so of lees in the plastic fermenter.
Can someone advise how soon I should rack into the glass demijohn please? Also, when the wine is in the demijohn there will be quite an air gap to the bung. Will this be a problem if I leave it for about a month?
Thanks in advance.

[Pyrosfx]

I'm also fairly new, I know what I've done in the past, not sure if its right though. I'd rack off, stabalise and top up with red grape juice.(assuming you don't have a suitable red about) I was told that thick lees cause taste problems as the cells are ruptured by the compression. So I'd like an answer as well. Ive also seen it advised to use marbles etc to fil the air space.

[lockwood1956]

Rack off the gross lees (sediment) and top up the new DJ...you can use water as long as it isn't too much.
1/4 pint in a gallon batch or 750ml in a 5 gal batch should be ok, wont change the taste too much, these kits are designed to be topped up with water at this stage

hope this helps
regards
Bob

[lockwood1956]

oooo

and welcome to the forum by the way

[halfastory]

Thanks for the advice. Will quarter of a pint of water be enough? I've got 4.5 litres of wine going into a five gallon demijohn and it looks like it would take at least a pint to get near the top. Sorry if i'm being dopey here but I don't want to bugger anything up so near the finishing post.

[halfastory]

Sorry...it's not going into a five gallon demijohn...just a standard demijohn. That'll teach me for posting early in the morning.

[Mamgiowl]

Welcome to the forum, Halfastory, and you'll be relieved to hear that yes, a standard demijohn will leave a little enough gap for you to top up.