Tips For Bottling Wine Kits

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Welsh_Wizard

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Both of my wine kits (Wilko Cab Sav 6 and Cali Conn' Rojo 6) are ready for bottling.

The 12 bottles I am going to use are currently soaking a hot soapy solution in order to get rid of labels.

I have been watching some videos on Youtube and just wanted to clarify a few things..

1) How much of a problem is oxidation whilst I'm bottling? By the time I take the airlock off the DJ then fill the 6 bottles with wine I can't imagine that taking more than 10-15mins at best. I've bought a 2-hand corking machine to get the corks on quick too. What sort of time limit have I got ??

2) I have got a syphon tube with a filter on the end that goes in the DJ. The end that goes into the bottle is just the plastic tube. Providing I keep it quick, I can't imagine that causing too much of a problem with oxidation either, providing I'm not sloshing it about loads...

3) Campden tablets.. I read that some people stick a crushed 1/4 tablet in the bottom of the bottle then syphon onto the tablet. Is this necessary and can someone give me some knowledge on why??

Cheers in advance - very excited !!! :clap: :party: :rofl: :drunk:
 
1) not really at all, so just use a syphon and don't pour it and don't hang about any longer than neccessary. it won't set in because you went to check the football scores basically :p

2) nope, just pour so it doesn't drip and travels down the side of the bottle.

3) it prevents against wine going bad from bacteria etc. usually I add 1 campden tablet after fermentation to the whole batch and that's enough. you can do so if you want, but it'll leave a little sediment in the wine. it'll probably be fine without it.
 
Cheers for the quick reply..

The two DJ's have been sat in the garage for at least 10 days whilst clearing.

I brought them into the house this morning in order to bottle and ever so slowly both are now generating bubbles again. Literally maybe one or two bubbles every 5 mins or so but whilst pottering around in the kitchen, I've noticed a few drip along.

Should i add anything in this instance???

If i bottle them all in the next hour or so, won't they continue to ferment and potentially blow the corks out???

I could add a single campden tablet to each DJ but wouldn't that then mean I couldn't bottle them this evening???

cheers
 
I now always use a potassium sorbate+Campden combo when bottling. It ensures no residual fermentation takes place in the bottle (both chemicals together), and guards against oxidation (the Campden does that bit on its own). Actually I rack onto that combo, leave a bit (up to a week sometimes), then bottle.
I've only had one wine oxidised, ever, and I'm not that fussy about siphoning technique. Avoid too much splashing is about it.
It's not the time so much as the amount of surface contact between wine and air. If your siphon only reaches the bottle necks, get the wine to run down the side to minimise splashing (this is what I do). If you have a bottling stick, that's even better (I have one but am too lazy to make the extra connections on the siphon tube except when doing large batches of cider or beer)

As your stuff is still producing bubbles, it'd be a good idea to use the sorbate/Campden combo and not just the Campden.
It may just be releasing gas that was held in suspension though, rather than continuing to ferment.
There's probably not enough sugar left to make an explosion, but you could get slightly fizzy wine.
 
To be honest I'm more than happy to leave it if it needs to be left. I'm only considering bottling as that is what the instructions tells me. I did add more sugar to the Wilko kit and i buggered up the water level ever so slightly on the Cali Conn so both have been with their drama's.

So what your suggesting is to re-rack both DJ's onto a campden tablet & potassium sorbate ... how much of this do I use???? Leave it another week or so to settle THEN bottle.
 
Haven't you already added the chemicals that came with kits when you added the finings?

Matt
 
Yeah - everything has been added. I was just watching some Youtube vids and they appeared to be adding various chemicals when bottling even with kits - just wanted to get it clarified.

I have just bottled the Cali Conn' Rojo Tinto. Due to an earlier mess up with the water levels when I pitched the yeast, i knew i was only getting 4.5 to 5 bottles tops. On the 5th bottle there was a break in the syphon before the final amount had been removed. I ended up chucking what was left in the DJ as a lot of air was getting into the mixture and SWMBO was flapping with the syphon end piece hitting the sludge at the bottom (She was DJ end, I was bottle end..). What managed to get into the bottle, about a 1/3rd, i ended up sticking in a glass and enjoying the fruits of my labour :D . Not sure what to say really. The wine seems to be extremely cloudy. I want to put this down to the muck up with the final part of the syphon but i am not so sure. The 4 bottles that i did manage to fill have been corked and left to the side. I guess only time will tell. Will further clearing occur whilst the bottles are laid up in the garage?? Guess I'll have to decant them then when i come to drink them???

Just getting everything sorted for the Wilko kit which is up next..

Still feeling a bit weird about the Cali Conn.. It appears a lot sweeter than the last sample i took which was just after primary ferment and before i added the bentonite..Why would that be the case???
 
They'll clear more in the bottle, the last glass you pour may be a bit murky as the sediment gets stirred up.
What you want to do is ignore the timings in the kit instructions and let each stage run a bit longer. A bit of extra time is almost always good.
Try not to bottle before it's really clear - just leave it, or maybe rack and leave it, after the last stage. If it doesn't clear properly by itself in, say, a month, try adding finings. But be sure it's de-gassed first - the gas can hold a lot of stuff in suspension, hindering clearing. There are de-gassing tools, but with demijohns you can just give them a quick shake every day for a week.
 
Well I've just bottled the Wilko and wow. What a difference. 5 bottles of literally crystal clear wine.

The Wilko left and Cali Conn right.

8e6ybyde.jpg


Tastes a bit to much on the nose and then fizzles out. Was hoping for a bit more depth but that could be just a maturation thing.

I've corked and put all bottles in the garage upright.

Does it make much of a difference if all of them stay upright for the duration of their storage or do they all have to be laid inverted eventually???
 
I'm glad that they were a success. The general rule for corks is three days upright and then laid down.

Regards

Matt
 
I was told that three ish days is required for the corks to expand and become air tight before lying them down.

Matt
 
Whats the implications of NOT inverting them after 3 days ??

Reason is, i don't have a wine rack !!!!
 
If you don't lie them down the corks dry out, then shrink and therefore aren't airtight.. apparently.

Matt
 

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