Bottling Peach Wine

Bottling wine is not too intimidating. I make sure that my wine bottles are cleaned and sanitized before bottling. The size of bottles I use is 750 ML. I buy wine bottles for about $16 a dozen from a home brewery supply store or I pick up wine bottles free from a local restaurant that I eat at on a monthly basis. Either way new or recycled the bottles have to be cleaned and sanitized.

Besides the wine bottles I will also need wine glasses to sample the wine, sugar to sweeten the wine, and a wine corker. Other bottling equipment also needed includes the corks, potasium sorbate (is used to stop refermentation in bottle), measuring spoon, funnel, large stirring spoon, siphon hose, and large 6-8 gallon food grade bucket.

It was time to bottle the peach wine. I ended up racking the peach wine five times. Each time I racked the wine I had a bit of a sample. I have been checking the wine for a few months now for appealing aroma, color, clarity, and taste. Since my husband and I will be the ones mostly consuming this wine we develop the wine to our taste or liking. Unfortunately, we could not agree upon the same taste we wanted from this peach wine; I wanted it semi-sweet and my husband wanted to leave it dry. To make matters more complicated the 22 year old daughter wanted it to be a lot sweeter like a dessert wine.  So, the only sensible thing to do was to divide the peach wine and make 3 different types. I made a total of 12 gallons of peach wine. From these 12 gallons it was decided that 6 gallons would be semi-sweet, 3 gallons would be dry, and 3 gallons would be a dessert wine. Each 6 gallons of wine produces about 30 bottles of wine. In other words I will have 30 bottles of semi-sweet, 15 bottles of dry, and 15 bottles of dessert wine.

Peach Wine in a Carboy

If you are going to split the wine into different types you have to bottle the dry wine first because dry wine does not have any sugar added to it at bottling time to sweeten it back. I set my wine filled carboy on top of the counter I insert the siphon hose into the carboy and the other end into a wine bottle, and then pump it twice. Then the wine starts flowing. I let the wine fill up to a tiny bit over the neck of the wine bottle. I use the funnel to fill up bottles that seem a little low in wine, so that the amount of wine in each bottle is a bit more uniform.

After filling up the dry wine bottles it was time to sweeten the wine a bit to have a semi-sweet peach wine. I let the peach wine warm up just a bit because it has been sitting in my refrigerator and for sugar to dissolve better it should not be so cold. Since I am sweetening the wine at bottling time I will need to add ¼ teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon of wine. Potassium sorbate keeps the wine from refermenting in the bottle with the sugar I am adding to the wine. I put this potassium sorbate at the bottom of the large food grade bucket. I insert the siphon hose into the carboy and the other end into the bucket, and then pump it twice. Then the wine starts flowing. As the wine flows, I am stirring the wine with my large plastic spoon so as to mix in the potassium sorbate. I then add 2 cups of sugar and stir in as well. After the wine empties into the bucket, I let it stand covered for 15 minutes and then I taste the wine. If I like the wine then I will bottle, if not I will add more sugar making sure to blend in well. I add small amounts of sugar at a time, taste, and then add more if needed. You can always add more sugar, but once it’s added you can’t take it out. I ended up adding a total of 5 cups of sugar to my peach wine at bottling time. This measurement should by no means be a guide for you in your own winemaking. Making wine should be made to your taste, which is definitely one thing I have learned over the years of making wine and visiting wineries. It is all about how you like it. You are the one making it and most likely will be the one drinking it. Make it to your taste!

To sweeten the wine I need to put it into a food grade bucket where I can easily blend in the sugar to sweeten it.

Potassium Sorbate used to keep the wine from refermenting in the bottle. I need to use this because I am adding sugar back into the wine so that it will have a sweeter taste.

I added the Potassium Sorbate and I am stirring it in well.

As the wine fills the container I keep stirring to blend well.

I begin to add the sugar and blend it in well so that it dissolves evenly and throughout the wine.

I then place the large bucket on the counter. I insert the siphon hose into the bucket and the other end into a wine bottle, and then pump it twice. Then the wine starts flowing. I let the wine fill up to a tiny bit over the neck of the wine bottle. I use the funnel to fill up bottles that seem a little low in wine, so that the amount of wine in each bottle is a bit more uniform.

Filling up Bottles of Wine

Using Gravity to help fill the Wine Bottles

Now is time to make the dessert wine. Dessert wine is a lot sweeter than semi-sweet. We keep adding sugar a small bit at a time making sure to stir in well. We taste the wine after each time we blend in the sugar. Once my daughter was content with the taste we bottled it as well.

Once all of the wine bottles are filled up I cork the bottle. Then I wipe down the bottles with a clean paper towel that is lightly spritzed with diluted bleach to wipe off any accidental spillage of wine on the wine bottles. At a later date I will need to add the wine label and the foil shrink wrapping that covers the cork and part of the neck of the wine bottle.

Corked Wine Bottles

I store the wine in a fridge. The wine does not have to be stored in a fridge, but currently I have space in my refrigerators. In the next month I will be starting to slaughter and butcher. At that time I will need my refrigerators for that project. In the meantime I will make my wine labels and add them to the bottles. I will also add a foil shrink wrap over the cork of the wine. After all of that the wine bottles will be transferred to a hall closet where they will be stored until I get ready to drink them. When I am ready to consume a bottle of wine I will chill it in the refrigerator and serve it chilled.