Settling

settling, the winemaking operation of holding must or wine in a vessel so that suspended solids fall to the bottom. The French term débourbage is sometimes used for the most common example of settling, to begin the clarification of freshly drained and pressed white musts before fermentation. Fermentation is delayed by adding sulfur dioxide and by cooling before pumping to the settling vessel.

Red wines, whose skins are included in the fermentation vessel, are settled after fermentation and maceration when the purpose is to remove not just grape debris but also dead yeast cells, or lees.