After 6 weeks of fermentation and clearing, the Pinot Noir is now ready to be bottled. Bottling comes much quicker with wine kits than it would if creating wine from the fruit. Nonetheless, the quality is high and the outcome successful. As I always do before bottling, I sanitized all of the equipment, then racked the wine off the lees through a fine mesh filter twice. I also added 6 campden tablets (1 for each gallon) to help preserve the wine as it ages.
The pinot noir has a nice clear deep red appearance and a fruity aroma. It is a very smooth wine, even now before it ages. The starting specific gravity was 1.075 and ended at 0.990 yielding an alcohol percentage by volume of 11.55%. I had cleaned and sanitized 32 green bordeaux bottles, but got 30 1/2 actual finished wine. This particular batch has a special purpose. This batch will be going to our neighbors, emblazened with a private label, for the annual Riess Family and Friends Christmas Party in December. The wines that I’ve made in the past year have been well received by our friends, that they’ve asked me to supply the party. I’m happy to do it.