Winemaking Tutorial - Lesson Seven
Bottling and Corking
Whew! We're almost done... hang in there!
- Remove the airlock and bung.
- Siphon the wine into a sanitized and rinsed fermenting bucket.
Most instructions tell you to fill your bottles by siphoning directly from the carboy. I have found it is easier to bottle the wine using the fast-flow bottle spigot at the base of the fermenting bucket than it is to siphon the wine from a carboy (you can control the flow of wine better and you don't have to worry about losing the siphon). Secondly, you have the privilege of adjusting the wine to suit your taste by adding (in small amounts with stirring) some sugar syrup (some kits have this enclosed) and/or wine conditioner (item #2739) to "swing" the wine to your taste buds. This is what makes winemaking so interesting! You can actually "tailor" your wine according to your preferences; just be sure to make notes as you go along so you can repeat the process for your next batch.
- Attach a siphon hose to the end of the spigot located at the bottom of the fermenting bucket.
- Fill clean, sanitized wine bottles with wine from the bucket.
- Cork the bottles using a corker. The top of the cork should be flush with the top of the bottle.
NOTE: There is a lot of debate among winemakers whether to soak your corks in recently boiled water for 10 minutes prior to corking. All I can say is that I have always corked wine with dry corks (the Altec variety), and have never had a leak!
- Label your wine bottles with the FREE labels provided by grapestompers (when you purchase your wine kits from us).
- Allow your bottles to be stored upright for 1 day after corking. Bottles should then be stored on their sides to keep the corks moist.
- If you wish, you may cover the tops of your bottles with capsules before storage.
Although your wine is drinkable now, it will improve with age!
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