The process of winemaking is long. Even those, who make wine at home from kits, must wait for several weeks. They are advised to wait longer after bottling to consume the wine. If you make wine from grapes, the wait is going to be longer often months or years. Groups making wine at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Clarksville, Maryland have proceeded to another phase of winemaking: bottling. Mid-August is the time that many red wines aging in barrels will be bottled.
Most of the people bottling the Rhone blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignane saw bottling as just another step in the process rather than an end. Pam Rowe preferred the pressing of the must phase over the bottling. Mindy Myers, however, liked the way everything came together. Fred Rowe and Larry Leak see the process extending past bottling. They are interested in how the wine will taste a year from now and longer. This was the second year of bottling at Tin Lizzie for John and Lisa Viglotti who continue to always learn something new while going through the process.
Just as the wines improved while aging in the oak barrel, there is the potential that they will improve while aging in the bottle. Most wineries age wine in bottles before releasing it to the public. Full-bodied red wines are good wine to age. One benefit of having several cases of a wine you made is to age it for a number of years. With just one case you can drink one bottle a year and note how it changes over time.
There are many phases of the winemaking process and bottling is just one of those phases. What do you think?
Cheers,
Terry
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