Published August 1, 2024
This story first appeared in our subscriber email. View previous campaigns and join the list!
Catching our Breath
Last Saturday we bottled almost all of our Pinot noir from the 2023 vintage. By working with a mobile bottling service we are able to bottle a large amount of wine in one day. But that single day of bottling is really just the last day of several weeks of work leading up to it.
It’s a process!
The cerebral part comes first, with barrel tasting and blending trials. This year we created 9 different Pinot noir blends for Winter’s Hill Estate, plus a few more for our winemaking clients.
After the blends are set, we can make a plan for which tanks we will need to use (all of them! 😊) and in what order (all at once! 😊). With the planning complete, we can start the physical process of gently “racking” the wine from the barrels to the appropriate tank.
Oh, there is more…
While this is happening, we are also busy ordering bottles, corks, and labels. We are following up with our suppliers to make sure everything arrives on time. In the final days before bottling, we focus on the chemistry and lab analysis to be sure that the wine is ready.
And, finally…
Bottling day means an early start and lots of extra people to load and pack the freshly filled bottles of wine. And, when clean-up is finished at the end of the day, there is only one beverage that will do…
