Bottling

[Tigre Cieca di Bocco]

I made two All Juice kits (Nero D'avola in Feb and Montepulciano in June) earlier this year which have been bulk aging, but I want to bottle them. I have been racking and adding campden tablets every 4 months. Just finished another racking at the end of October.

When getting ready to bottle should I just treat it the same way I did the racking during bulk aging? Or should I be doing something different?

This is my first attempt at wine making, but have lurked around here for some time picking up vast amounts of knowledge and tricks. I definitely do not want to screw up the last leg as I plan on giving a few bottles out for holiday presents.

 

[VinesnBines]

You should be good to bottle now; certainly the Nero D'avola. If you are sure the Montepulciano is through fermentation and degassed, you can go on and bottle it as well. Since you added campden at the end of October, that should be sufficient to protect the wine in the bottle.

 

[Tigre Cieca di Bocco]

Thank you VinesnBines.

They are both definitely done fermenting, degassing, clearing, etc.

The Montepulciano still tastes a bit young, but I think it will be better than the Nero is now when it reaches 8 months. Planning on storing the majority of the bottles until they are 1 year old before really enjoying them.

 

[winemaker81]

I make a suggestion to all new wine makers -- open a bottle 3 to 6 months after bottling, record your impressions. Open a bottle every 3 months after that and record your impressions. You might seal each note in an envelope and then open them together when the wine is at the 18 or 24 month mark, so you can see how the wine changed.

Most reds don't start getting good until the 1 year mark, and most continue to improve through year 5. However, opening bottles when the wine is young will give you direct experience in how wine ages, and that different wines age at different rates.

You will also learn that 2 cases of wine seems like a lot ... but if you open 1 bottle per week, it's gone in less than 6 months.