How to record rackings and blends

Rackings and blends: the heart of the cellar

In winemaking, rackings (moving wine from one vessel to another) and blends (combining wines from different vessels) are everyday operations. Cepaos records each movement with full traceability so you can reconstruct the history of every liter.

Rackings

What is a racking?

A racking is the total or partial movement of wine from a source vessel to a destination vessel. Typical examples:

• Moving wine from a fermentation tank to a stabilization tank.
• Racking from tank to barrel for ageing.
• Emptying a vessel for cleaning and returning the wine.

How to record a racking

1. Go to Cellar > Cellar control or directly from the Vessel master.
2. Select the source vessel.
3. Click Racking.
4. Fill in:

• Destination vessel: choose from the list of vessels with sufficient available capacity.
• Liters: amount to transfer. Cepaos validates that it doesn't exceed the source vessel's current content or the destination's available capacity.
• Date: defaults to today, but you can adjust it if you're recording a past operation.
• Reason (optional): clarification, rack, ageing, etc.

1. Click Confirm.

What happens after the racking?

• The source vessel is debited the transferred liters.
• The destination vessel is credited the received liters.
• An entry is created in the cellar book with the movement detail.
• Lot traceability is updated: the wine in the destination vessel inherits the source's history.

Partial racking

You can transfer only part of the content. The source vessel keeps the remainder and retains its lot identity.

Losses

If there was a loss during the racking (for example, lees left at the bottom), you can record it by entering the lost liters. This is reflected in the losses report and in the stock balance declaration.

Blends

What is a blend?

A blend is the combination of wines from two or more source vessels into a destination vessel. It is one of the most important operations in winemaking, because it defines the profile of the final wine.

How to record a blend

1. Go to Cellar > Blends.
2. Click + New blend.
3. Fill in:

• Blend name: internal identifier (e.g. "Malbec-Cabernet 2025 Reserve").
• Destination vessel: where the resulting blend will end up.
• Components: add each source vessel with the liters it contributes.
• Date: operation date.

1. Cepaos automatically calculates:

• Total volume of the blend.
• Varietal composition as percentages (useful for labelling and appellation rules).
• Combined parcel origin (for block-level traceability).

1. Click Confirm blend.

Blend traceability

After confirming:

• Each source vessel is debited the contributed liters.
• The destination vessel receives the blend total.
• The resulting lot has a traceability tree showing every origin: block, variety, harvest date, intermediate vessels.
• This information can be exported for appellation certifications and for importers.

Iterative blending

You can make successive blends — for example, a partial blend now and adjust it later with more volume. Each operation is recorded as a separate event in the cellar book.

Undo a blend

If you recorded a blend by mistake, you can void it within 24 hours. After that window, contact support for assistance. The void reverses the cellar-book movements and restores the original volumes.

Cellar book

All rackings and blends are automatically reflected in the cellar book (Cellar > Cellar book). This record is the digital equivalent of the official bound register required in most markets, and it can be exported to PDF for audits.

Best practices

• Record each movement the same day it happens. Backdated operations are possible but make reconciliation harder.
• Use descriptive names for blends. It makes searching easier later.
• Review losses periodically. A loss above 3% on rackings may indicate operational issues.
• Export the cellar book at the end of each month for a backup.