If you have washed your bottle out thoroughly after you finish it, this process is very easy. You want to insure that the inside and outside of the bottle is clean. If there is any mold in it – recycle it. Remember wine is a food product – it requires a clean bottle. A dirty bottle can spoil the wine.
For the first 10 days leave the wine bottles upright. This allows the cork to reexpand into the neck of the bottle. After these few days, lay them on their side, out of direct sun or heat. Try not to store wine in your kitchen or under the stairs. The heat variations in your kitchen can adversely affect your wine, and the vibrations of the stairs can “bruise” your wine.
We love to help you create a wine that is special and specific to you! We do offer generic labels, however, custom paper matte labels are included with your batch! We offer some cursory design work free of charge and can do anything from a simple saying or name, to full colour designs and images! If you would like to upgrade we can even print Photo Glossy or Weatherproof Matte labels for less than a dollar each! We ask that you give us 2 weeks lead time on custom labels, as we like to leave plenty of time to send proofs and make sure your label is exactly what you had envisioned!
As Craft Wines contain far less sulphite levels than commercially processed wines, they unfortunately don’t have the same shelf life. Commercial wines (those that you find in a liquor store) contain very high levels of sulphites in order to allow them several years on the shelf or wine cellar. Our wines contain a fraction of these sulphites. As a result, our wines have a shorter shelf life. These wines are meant to be enjoyed optimally within 18-36 months.
All wines should be aged for a certain period after bottling. Wine goes into “Bottle Shock” initially after bottling. This simply means that the molecules get disturbed and need to form back together. So, for even a fruit wine that requires little to no aging we suggest ideally a week after bottling. For 5 week premium kits you should potentially age whites for a month or two after bottling and for those reds 2 or more months. For many this doesn’t happen – don’t worry if you like it then great – if it is a little sharp wait a few more weeks. For the longer term wines 6-8 weeks kits – we recommend at least 6 months. If you experiment with these you will notice that these wines really change over time. Many people have tried to hasten the process and realize that they wasted a nice bottle of wine. Remember as with everything “Patience is a virtue” – show your wines some patience and you will be treated to a wonderful surprise.
This is a very simple process. The hardest part is choosing the wine you want. We can guide you through this process with a few simple questions. After that, it is a fast procedure of pitching (empty a package of yeast) into the wine.
Typically we allot 45 minutes to bottle your batch of wine. This time varies if you have 1.5L bottles as it is faster.
