After bottling, what to do

[sampvt]

My first wine kit says after corking the wine, leave the bottles in a cool cark place for 3 days then lay the bottles onto their sides. I presume this is something to do with allowing air to escape but what if I am using screw caps.

Should I just lay the wine down on its side or leave them standing up. I am thinking of the sediment that will probably gather on the bottom if stood up and I cant understand why laying a bottle down would help as the sediment will gather on the side and make pouring hard.

 

[brottman]

The advice is in regards to using corks with bottles. It is so that the corks have time to seal properly, before being put on side to keep the cork wet during aging. With caps, you can disregard.

 

[brottman]

With screw caps, it does not matter if the bottle ages upright or on its side.

 

[GreginND]

With corks, you want to store them on their sides to keep the cork submerged. If you have sediments it's not a problem. A day or two before you plan to drink a bottle, give it a little jostle to loosen the sediments from the sides and stand it upright to settle.

 

[DoctorCAD]

What kind of screw caps are yo using?

 

[sampvt]

What kind of screw caps are yo using?

The screw caps we are using are wine bottles we have saved and cleaned. I have filled them all with water and turned them upside down and non leaked but I might put a piece of cling film on the neck before screwing them on, just as a precaution. Why do you ask, does home brew react different with normal wine.

 

[Olbuscap]

I do re-use the machine applied seal caps and bottles. However, at some point, the cap will probably no longer seal. So, when using these bottles, I will lay them on their side when bottled and check for leaks after one day. If there is a leak, I will check for tightness or throw that cap out and replace with another, then re-check.