Délestage

Délestage meaning in winemaking

Délestage is a French red-winemaking technique, also called rack-and-return, in which fermenting juice is drained away from the cap of grape skins and then pumped back over it. The temporary draining lets the cap loosen and can allow seeds to be separated before the wine is returned. Used carefully, délestage improves color extraction, aerates the fermenting must, and can soften the tannin profile by reducing harsh seed-derived bitterness. It is not simply filtration; it is a controlled cap-management method during fermentation.