Storage of finished wine

[Skozzy]

Wanting to make my life easier, I make wine the natural way, grapes sourced in September/October, nothing else added, pure grapes, like grandad made in Italy...any one have any knowledge or used a stainlesss steel or plastic container to store the wine after being pressed...these have taps so to draw the wine off when needed to drink, probably looking at a 100 litre one, to store the wine for around a year, ready then for the next batch..
thanks
steve

 

[my wine]

Hi Skozzy! Welcome to the forum.

I bought several 5 gallon collapsible plastic wine bags from EC Kraus recently. They are square shaped when full. They come with a screw cap and I bought a screw-on tap to fit. I haven't used them yet so can't give you my experience with them. But the vendor suggested not leaving the wine in there more than 6 months. I plan on using them as a bottle saving tool for wine that I'll drink sooner than later.

I doubt a 20 to 30 gallon container would be collapsible but you may not be looking for that. Do be wary of the composition of the plastic. Even one that is offered for wine storage may have its limitations.

 

[NorCal]

I used some 1 gallon bags for skeeterpee, and it did the trick. It was consumed within a few months. Not sure it would withstand 12 months of storage.


So taking this concept on a bigger scale? Here is a 30 gallon water storage bag, but is a bit price.

 

[Skozzy]

Thanks for the feedback, looking at a stainless steel one, not sure about plastic using long term...

 

[Rice_Guy]

granddad in Italy likely was using a flat sided pottery keg with a spigot towards the bottom and a round wooden board floating on top and a little olive oil on that to give a flexible seal.

I like the bag @NorCal has in the photo. I have used the EVOH film as a fermentation vessel for five months. When tested at the vinters club it did not have any comments about oxidation, so this is a good option. The bag volumes are misleading, if you let them expand, they seem to hold 25% above the rating when confined in a cardboard box or wine purse.
Stainless is used in the beer market. Stainless has lots of fittings available so I would give a serious look at several corney kegs and CO2 to push the wine out of a tap. There should also be a way to “buy” a regular size beer barrel (117 liters) and again run a tap on it.
With either option you should have better quality than a traditional pottery with floating lid.

. . . like grandad made in Italy...any one have any knowledge or used a stainlesss steel or plastic container to store the wine after being pressed...these have taps so to draw the wine off when needed to drink, probably looking at a 100 litre one, to store the wine for

WELCOME TO WMT

 

[winemaker81]

Stainless steel tanks with a spout are commercially available, but I have no idea of price.

Not quite as work free as you desire, but store the wine in carboys with vented bungs. When you need wine transfer to four 4 liter jugs and a gallon collapsible bag. Refill the bag from a jug each time it's empty.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Beer folks use a pressure rated stainless steel piece of equipment called a “bright tank” which has fittings for removing liquid off the bottom and injecting gas to blanket the top. Ballpark $500 Carboys are cheaper as @winemaker81 said. BUT if you are patient the used market eventually has everything.