Bottle Tree?

[RkyMtnWine]

bottling saturday and no tree... so quick trip to the scrap heap.. short section of shelving, few holes and walla.

 

[Joanie]

Great idea!!! Great price!!!

 

[Wade E]

You may want to save that even after you get a bottle tree as you may eventually want to make sparkling wine and that would make a good riddling board.

 

[RkyMtnWine]

OK... ya got me on that one.. rookie winemaker here... what the heck is a riddling board?

 

[RkyMtnWine]

Or.... i could number the holes... and play that game where you have plastic chips and try to ping them in the holes..

 

[Wade E]

A riddling board is used after you bottle wine in champagne bottles with sugar in there to start a fermentation in the bottle which is what carbonates a sparkling wine. While it is fermenting you put the bottles upside down in this board so as that all the sediment from fermentation goes into the hole in the plastic bottle stopper which is also held on with the wire tie downs as the pressure from carbonating is quite strong. After a few months months upside down the wine is clear again and we keep the bottles upside down and freeze just the top of the bottle while it is upside down so that it is kind of like a sediment plug and then we carefully open each bottle while it is frozen so that it does not lose much carbonation as colder temps hold C02. We pop the top while still upside down and shoot that plug out and recap fast and now you have clear sparkling wine. You put a new wire tie on and WALLA. Sparkling wine. The cold part is why we always say to degas your wine around 75* as the colder it is the harder it is to get the gas out.This process is called Riddling and Degorging.
Edited by: wade

 

[NorthernWinos]

The Riddling Racks are also called a Pupitres....

Pupitre (France)

A wine rack which holds bottles in a suitable position for
remuage.

It hold the Champagne bottles up side down so the lees [yeast] goes into the neck of the bottles.

 

[Wade E]

Never heard that 1 before NW, there is my new bit of wisdom for today!

 

[RkyMtnWine]

Thanks all for the info and it will certainly be put in my memory bank for future use. Right now I am taking baby steps.Have tograduate from my first wine making attempt (the strawberry)first. Do believe its going to turn out ok... hope so. Thanks again all.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I am trying to cram a bunch of Mead information in my head right now...It's getting crowed in there...

Wade....did you keep your Sparkling Wine upside down all the time??? We usually just put them upside down the last two weeks when we Riddle. We leave them right side up during the 2 months of fermentation time when we shake them occasionally.

They actually say to lay them on their sides for better dispersement or contact of the yeast to the wine....but those Champagne bottles are too large for our wine racks and don't stack, so our sit up right during the 2 month re-fermentation.

Now the big Sparkling Wine companies use huge crate and mechanically Riddle....

http://www.winepros.org/wine101/sparkling.htm


Makes you feel small and insignificant while you are hand Riddling your 30 bottles.......

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[RkyMtnWine]

Where from in Northern Minnesota. Moved to Colorado from Willmar, mn in 1989

 

[NorthernWinos]

North of Fosston...Lots on Minnesota folks here....

 

[RkyMtnWine]

You are right up there... Have Brother-in-Law in International Falls. Brother has a xmass tree farm SE of Glenwood.. Starting to grow wine grapes.. He is not sure how involved he will get with that but he certainly has the land for it. Maybe a little bit sandy though.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Small world.....
Soon International Falls will be known as Ice Box Falls...dread the thought of winter....

Think there a winery in Alexandria/Glenwood....Carlos Creek.
As well there is an Ethanol plant that is making Vodka [don't know what vat they dip the Vodka out of] They bottle it in Princeton under the label Shakers [with the penguin on it]...Suppose to be good.

In the meantime, enjoying above average weather....No complaints.

Edited by: Northern Winos