Guess what? Harvest is starting to sneak up on us. Although there is probably TONS of work to be done in the vineyard, it’s also time to start preparing the winery for harvest. Do not let harvest preparation get away from you. Any good winemaking team will tell you that one of the key methods […]
Bottling
Fining Agent Refinement
In the world of winemaking, fining agents are what are known as “processing aids.” Unlike ingredients or additives, which stay in the wine after their addition, processing aids do not remain in the wine. Or, if they do, it is at such negligible concentrations that they may be unmeasurable. Nonetheless, the use of certain fining […]
Does it take 12 weeks to bottle a wine?
If you ordered “Everything You Wanted to Know about Wine Bottling,” a 3-part webinar series presented by winemaking and wine QA/QC expert, Zoran Ljepović, you may have noted that he indicates it takes at least 8 to 12 weeks to bottle a wine. How can that be?! What is “Pre-Bottling?” Pre-bottling, the set of operations […]
4 Large Reminders about Wine Bottling Operations
Wines can be ruined in just one moment: during bottling. After all of the attention in the vineyard, all of the details that go into making the wine… …we can completely ruin the quality with poor bottling practices. While this operation seems somewhat straightforward, and may often become boring, there is an incredible amount of […]
Getting Stabilization and Bottling to Work for You!
Another quarterly update here! This past quarter, the biggest struggle I have seen among wineries is getting wine stabilization order or winemaking techniques correct, as well as general bottling order. Winemakers that wear multiple hats at a winery (think: needing to prune vines while also stabilizing those past vintage wines left in the cellar) often […]
The Free SO2 Bottling Dilemma
As bottling season is in full swing, I can see that many winemakers continue to struggle with free sulfur dioxide concentrations in their wines. That’s why, for the month of April, I’ve released a new Production Guide on handling free sulfur dioxide adjustments prior to bottling. This document supplements the Pre-Bottling Prep Checklists (Red, White, […]
