1st batch ready for bottling!

[jimnjan]

my wife & I checked for clarity of our "World Vineyard,California Trinity Red" last night. It had been 14 days since the degassing & adding final chemicals step.
Put some in a glass & were pleased to see a nice clear red wine, No cloudiness! I remember it being quite cloudy 2 weeks ago.
Anyway we're going to wait "til Fri. Night when I'm off work. We'll have the time to do it right. We will also rent an Italian Floor Corker from the local brew shop for 8$ a day (with a $100 deposit.)

I washed my wine bottles in the bathtub with Oxy-Clean 2 weeks ago. Should I use my avvinatore with some "1 step" cleaner, followed by the K-Meta solution?
We're really hyped after all the care and effort we put into it .

WE did both try an experimental sip, 1st impressions are:
1) sweeter on the attack than I expected.
2) the dryness came during the finish
I know it will improve after 1 to 6 mos. & Can't wait to give a final review in June or maybe Sept.

A very big THANKS to all who helped us out, ecpecially cpfan (Steve) & Wade
arctic Sid, Luc,Twissty, et al.

BTW, Any suggestions for my 2nd batch? We like complex reds with a lot going on in your mouth at the same time! Dry reds with a good mouthfeel.I'm willing to pay for a higher end kit if that's what it takes!

great people on a great forum!

Jim Of Jim & Jan





People on a great forum!

 

[cpfan]

Jim:

I would just sanitize the bottles with K-meta. They haven't gotten dirty in 2 weeks I don't think. If they were stored in a dusty location you probably should rinse quickly first.

Next kit? Way too may choices (at least for me). Actually, I suggest getting another carboy and making two more. One higher end Selection and another World Vineyard or Selection Original.

Steve

 

[jimnjan]

Thanks, Steve.
We bottled it last night & had a blast! The Italian floor corker worked great. There was a LOT of sediment on the bottom of the carboy, so we stopped siphoning early & just got 25 bottles. I think we should have let it clarify another few days. Regardless, it was a great experience & we are anxious to start another batch.
Jim

 

[Wade E]

You could have let the rest of the wine clear in say a 1 gallon jug and received a few more bottles out of t!

 

[jimnjan]

Oops! I'll definetely remember that for next time!
Hope to start another batch in a few weeks.
Jim

 

[non-grapenut]

You could have let the rest of the wine clear in say a 1 gallon jug and received a few more bottles out of t!

Wow, Wade! Never thought of doing that. Thanks for the tip. I hate abusing alcohol.