Part 5 - Wine Making: The Final Step

The process of wine making is one that does take a considerable amount of time, there?s no doubt about that. But, that doesn?t mean that it isn?t worth the wait because it very much so is. Once the wine has been racked or siphoned off to remove all of the sediment from it, it still needs at least three months to sit, if not longer to ferment. Now this time has gone by, its time to start thinking about bottling the wine. In order for
the wine to be moved into its bottles, you do need to wait for the fermentation to stop and for the wine to become clear, which should happen on its own.

Once this happens, the next steps are easy. You?ll need to siphon off the wine from the vessel it has been fermenting in and place it into the wine bottles you?ll be using. Sterilization is important here and isn?t something that you should skip or forget about doing. Once this has been done, the bottles need to be corked and completely sealed to keep out an air.

Now, your wine is still not done and it will take a considerable amount more of time. Once the bottles are filled, place them upright for at least three days, but its better if it is five. This allows for the proper reaction to happen. After this period, you?ll be placing them on their sides to store them. Now, drop the fermentation temperature again. This time, go for 55 degrees. Your white wine needs to sit like this, mostly undisturbed for at least six months. Your red wines need a full year for improvement. If the wine isn?t what you want it to be, another year or even more can be necessary.

While you had to wait a long time, the resulting wine will be wonderful.