First, we racked to the (sanitized) fermenter one more time. Here's why:
Apparently, the fining and clarifying steps we did a couple of weeks ago worked, because all this sediment was left over in the carboy. From the fermenter, the clarified wine was ready to bottle. Forrest and Kierston (with a little help from their friends) got thirty bottles together, washed them, and got them ready to add our wine. They're not all Bordeaux bottles, which would be most appropriate for a Cabernet (we also have Burgundy and Alsace and even a Champagne bottle), but for a first effort, we took what we could get.
We used the same auto-siphoner that we've been using to rack the wine to put it into the bottles...
...and topped off the bottles after siphoning into them to leave a little space for the corking. Too much space, and the wine can oxidize; not enough space, and it's impossible to get the cork in the bottle.
Actually, it was sort of impossible to get the corks in the bottles until Kierston figured out it was much easier after soaking the corks in warm water. Here's Forrest hand-corking a bottle.
And here's a bottle following corking. The wine actually has a really pleasant red color!
All thirty bottles, filled and corked! We let the bottles sit upright for a few days to let the corks expand to the bottle...
...then after a few days, laid the bottles on their sides in the classic "pyramid" stacking scheme to prevent the corks from dehydrating.
The wine will continue to mature in these bottles for up to a few months, and we'll be tasting throughout.
I can’t wait to know what your homemade wine tastes like! What kind of fruits and juices did you use? Well, whatever it is, I’m sure that it will taste great. Although it is good to buy readymade wines from big wineries, it is also fun to make your own thing. You will appreciate it more once all the work is done, and it will give a whole new meaning to the phrase, “sweet taste of victory.”
ReplyDelete[Rob Feckler]
It's actually pretty good! Here's the "tasting notes" from the first batch.
ReplyDeleteWe just used Cabernet Sauvignon concentrate for this first wine, mainly to get comfortable with the equipment and the process. Now we're making our first "real" wine (a Grenache) as well as some smaller batches of plum wine. I'll be posting updates throughout the production, bottling, and tasting, so follow along with us if you're interested!