The wine has settled down nicely and is bulk aging.  I sampled a small glass and find that while the flavor has a nice solid raspberry taste, it is quite thin and still a bit tart.  I may make a small batch of Strawberry to add in to give it some body.  Not sure yet.  Pondering my options.

Interestingly enough, the wine is still fermenting, albeit slowly. I think that it has had enough, so today I added in some metabisulfite to kill off any remaining yeast. I will let it sit with the airlock now for another couple weeks and test the SG again.

As I was in the bottling mood, and this batch has been sitting a long time also, I decided to bottle it as well.

Same procedure as for the port, except for full size bottles.  I ended up with 28 bottles due to the extra racking that I did and the loss of wine as a result.  I did buy 2 of these kits, so I will start the other one soon and have plenty!

Well, The port has been sitting very quietly for a long time now bulk aging. Its time to bottle it.

I use the small bottles for port. (375ml/13oz). So, yet again its cleaning time. I mix about a litre of cleaning solution and pour it into the bowl of my bottle tower. Put the jet cleaner on the tap and turn on the hot water.

I clean 30 bottles and as each is cleaned I place it upside down on the rack to drain. I normally leave them sit for an hour or so to dry a bit before I fill them. Next, I count out 30 corks. I use natural ones, so they need to soak. I have an old cooking pot that I use for this. I dump the corks in, turn the lid upside down, fill the pot to overflowing with hot water and put something on top to keep the corks submerged. I then lay out my bottles on the floor under the carboy. Using a bottle filler attachment, I fill each bottle. The level of wine should end up just a hair up the actual neck. After all the wine is used to fill all the bottles, ( normally the last one is not full), I take out my floor corker. These units are designed for a full size bottle, so a bit of ingenuity is needed. I solve this by adding 2- 2×4 blocks of wood to the platform to raise the bottle. I drain the corks and cork each bottle.

The bottles must now remain upright for at least 3 days for the corks to dry out. If you fail to do this, the bottles will leak and never seal properly.

After the corks are dry, I clean the outside of the bottles with a damp cloth, dry them and apply lables and shrink tops. The finished product is now ready for cellaring for as long as you want. This is very nice right now, but will continue to improve over the next few years at least if you can stay out of it!

As I don’t use the #3 and #4 packs, my clarifying and stabilizing takes quite a bit longer.

Instead of an airlock, I use a plastic stopper with the valve part of a Vacu-Vin on it.  I pump this up at least once per day until I no longer get any bubbles coming to the surface.   This typically takes anywhere from 1-3 weeks.  After 2 weeks, If I am still getting alot of bubbles, I rack the wine again, leaving as much sediment behind as I can.  I have found that when I do this I can usually get the last of the CO2 out in a matter of days.

Right now, I will be racking this batch in the next day or 2 as I am still getting a fair amount of CO2 forming.

Feb 2 - SG is at 0.994 and fermentation has stopped.  After sterilizing everything, I syphon the wine into a carboy and attach an airlock.  After about 7-10 days, I’ll add my #2 pack.

 I have not made a Barolo in probably 6 years. so I guess its high time.

This one is a Vintners Reserve kit as I need some wine that does not need 1-2 years to cellar.  It should be drinkable within a couple months of bottling.

Start with the basics:  clean and sterilize.  Very carefully measure out 2 liters of warm water using the hose that is attached to my faucet directly into the primary. (Yep, looks about 2 liters!)  Sprinkle slowly the bentonite onto the surface and mix it thoroughly until there are no clumps.  Give the juice bag a good shake and carefully pour it in.  Add lukewarm water until the primary is at the 23 liter mark and hunker down to stir.  I go at it quite vigorously for about 2 min.  Take an SG reading and its at 1.073.  Instructions say it should be between 1.070 and 1.085.  This kit comes with 1 pack of untoasted American oak, which I then add and stir in.  A peek at my temperature assures me that I am OK to add the yeast.  Sprinkle that on top, and close it up with an airlock.  It will start to ferment within 24 hours.

I seem to have forgotten to post my last steps.  Oops.

Jan 17,  Checked the SG and found that it was still 1.010 for 2 consecutive weeks, so I decided to carry on to the next step .  I added the #2 pack (metabisulphite) and stirred the heck out of the wine.  Now, I do not normally ever use #3 and #4 packs in my wines, but this time, I added the #3 (sorbate).  I stirred it up again very well.

I normally use a “Vacu-vin” airtight stopper and pump it up a couple times a day until I no longer get any bubbles forming (CO2).  This typically takes a couple weeks, or less depending on the kit.  I dislike adding more chemicals that I absolutely have to to my wines.  With the port, I again did this after my intensive stirring, but I could get no bubbles to rise at all.  I left it a week or so, pumping each day, but still no bubbles.  My stirring did the job this time around.

Jan 24. I then siphoned out a litre of wine (4 cups) to make room for the F-pack.  Gave the F-pack a good shake, and carefully poured it in.  Again, stirred very well to blend it all together.  SG is now at 1.030.  I will now leave it for another 2 weeks minimum with an airlock attached.

I took a look tonite and noticed that all activity has been stopped for a couple weeks now, and there was a lot of sediment that had built up on the sides and bottom of the carboy. I decided that it was time to rack the wine.

I sterilized another carboy, etc etc. Racked the wine into it. Notice the sediment and film on the carboy.

After all of the wine is transferred, there is a purty pink sludge on the bottom. That is leftover yeast and fine fruit matter. I don’t want that in my wine anyways, so best to get it out now.

I can’t help myself…… MUST HAVE A GLASS…………….

Very nice color. Nice nose. tasting……………………… Hmm nice. a bit acidic at this point, but not a lot. I happened to be drinking a Malbec at the time, so as a comparison, this is what they look like.

As you can see, it is very pale in comparison, but a lovely red color.

I will leave it sit now for probably another month before I check it again. That being said, it will have an airlock on it that I will check more regularly.

The airlock has stopped bubbling, so I should check the SG.  I have a reading of 0.997, so its time to rack the wine.

I again use my filter screen on the bottom of the syphon to keep the large chunks of oak out.  I am able to fill the carboy to the proper level (withing 2 inches of the bottom of the bung) without the need to top it up with water.   Time to leave it alone with an airlock for about 10 days.