Making and storing wine is a delicate process. Whether you are storing the bottles in a cellar or under counter wine cooler, make sure that the storage conditions are ideal. The wine-making is not an easy process as it has a lot of complicated processes. Bottling the wine is just one of the most challenging processes in the wine making. It is a delicate process that is time consuming as well.
Building the bottles from the scratch or buying the bottles can be expensive. You can reuse the empty bottles and it is the most affordable method as well. If you are bottling your wine on used bottles then you need to be extra careful.
Here are some useful tips that will help in bottling the wine efficiently.
Cleaning the exterior:
When you are using the used bottles, you have to be careful about their cleanliness. Cleaning the used bottles can be a little challenging and time-consuming. The best way to clean the bottles is to adopt a straight forward approach. Use a razor blade to scrape the labels while putting it under running water. The scrapping can cause the glass to become a little dull but it does the job. After removing the label you should get the residue glue off the bottle. Scrub the bottle and then rinse it with hot water and it will be as good as new.
Cleaning the interior:
The interior of the bottle needs to be spotless and completely clean before you pour wine in it because it’s not clean then it can contaminate the wine and ruin its taste and texture. Cleaning the interior is much more difficult than cleaning the exterior. If the interior is not clean it can cause the mold to grow and they will not be fit to store the wine. The wine bottle should be rinsed after it is finished. You can use a bottle washer and then rinse it with hot water.
The sanitization:
Sanitization is important before you fill the bottles. You should use a sanitization solution preferably the one that is made up of sodium metabisulfite and potassium metabilsufite. Put the solution in the bottle rinse vinator and rinse the bottle using the solution. Put the sanitized bottles on the bottle drainer tree and let them dry. When the bottles are dry they are ready to be filled with wine.
Best way to fill the bottles:
When the bottles are ready to fill you should make sure that you know the different ways of filling them. You can either fill the bottles straight from the carboy or you can rack the finished wine in the bottling bucket. If you are filling the bottles directly from the carboy then you will need a helper. Do a thorough research on both methods and select the one that is most convenient for you.
Sealing the bottles:
You can use caps or corks to seal the bottles. There are three types of corks you can use; natural, manufactured or synthetic. Make sure you are using a good quality one because the quality of the wine depends on it.