Since we first started making our own wine, almost all we ever heard was, "Keep oxygen away from you wine; otherwise it will spoil." To a large extent this is true; however, it depends on where you are in the wine making process and how much oxygen is exposed to your wine.

Our most valuable friend, yeast, needs oxygen to begin its work. No oxygen, no active yeast. No active yeast, no wine. Its that simple!

The activity of the yeast really has two phases, multiplication and fermentation. The first phase occurs as soon as you pitch the yeast. When those dormant little rascals hit the juice, they go nuts. With all that food in the juice, they just start multiplying faster than rabbits. Actually, under ideal conditions, they double every hour. Ideal conditions include plenty of oxygen. That is why we start fermentation in a bucket. The open bucket with a lid that is not air tight allows plenty of oxygen to be available for the yeasts.

After several days, the second phase begins and the yeasts start converting the sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2). The ratio is about 53% alcohol and 47% CO2. This is when you see the rapid bubbling action. As the alcohol level rises, the yeasts stop multiplying, and when the alcohol level gets too high (around 14% for most strains), the yeasts start dying.

Once the yeasts start converting the sugar to alcohol, you want to limit its exposure to oxygen. During the early days of fermentation, the yeasts do the job for you by producing CO2. CO2 is heavier than air, so as the CO2 is produced, it creates a "cap" on top of your wine. However, this protective cap only last for 3-5 days. Therefore, the wine maker must rack his wine into another vessel on which an airlock can be used, to protect his or her wine. We use carboys, but oak barrels, glass jugs and demijohns work just as well.

From this point on, you want to "limit" your wines exposure to air. In other words, a little oxygen is all right. A lot of oxygen is bad. For instance, when you rack your wine, a little splashing is good for the wine. A lot of splashing is not good for your wine. You also want to make sure you "top off" the carboy each time you rack.

"Topping off" is the process of adding additional liquid to the carboy to raise the level of your wine to within 2 inches of the stopper. This additional liquid can be either more water or more wine. Beginning winemakers often have trouble finding ways to keep their storage containers full, so here are a few suggestions.

-Top up with the same wine.

Some wine is lost each time wine is racked, so 10 to 15 percent of extra wine should be made specifically for topping up containers. Store the extra wine in 5-gallon, 1-gallon or 1.5-liter containers, and use the wine from the smaller containers first.

-Add any available wine to fill the headspace.

Most red wines are not significantly affected by small additions of other wines. Even white wine can be used, and sometimes a small white wine addition will actually improve the red color. Of course, red wines cannot be used to top up white wines, so keep the Cabernet out of he Chardonnay.

-Top up with a commercial wine of the same type.

A bottle or two will often eliminate the headspace, and small additions of commercial wine often improve homemade wine. The major disadvantage here is the cost of the commercial wine. If using a commercial wine, be sure to use a good quality wine. I would strongly suggest against Boonesfarm.

-Add water.

The disadvantages here are a small change in acidity and some flavor dilution; however, small additions of water may not be noticeable, and water is always available. Keep in mind that the manufacturers of the kits take into consideration that a lot of people will just add water (I do most of the time.), so you will not ruin your wine by just adding more water.

Perfectionists use the first method, and they always make extra wine just for topping up. They acquire a large assortment of different size carboys, jugs and bottles so the right size wine storage container is always available.

Most home winemakers prefer a combination of the first two methods, but in an emergency, any method should be considered because any reasonable way of eliminating headspace is preferable to oxidized wine!