Bottled Sadie's Cider

Bottled Sadie's Cider last night.  A couple of friends came over the dinner so I put them to work.  I used plastic water bottles, for the most part.  I put about 1/3 teaspoon of sugar in each bottle and then filled them.  I did not stop the fermentation so it should give them a little sparkle.  Will give it a week then try one.

2012 Crop

Well it has been a busy couple of days.  The grapes ripened all at once but not nearly the quantity of the last couple of years.  I was able to gather approximately 5 gallons of ripe grapes to use for wine.  They did not have the fullness of last years crop.

Please don't aske me to put my paws in that stuff!

I hand crushed them into two vats using my antique fruit press.  Once they were divided into the two vats I added about 4 gallons of distilled water.  Crushed 5 campden tablets into each vat and left for 48 - 56 hours.  Added the yeast and 10 pounds of white sugar.  Sealed and airlocked the vats.  08.20.12

I thought I saw a lizard go in there - I call dubs.

Robbie's Run - Vintage 2012

Bottling - Spent about 3 hours bottling Robbie's Run this past Saturday.  I did not use any chemicals to finish the wine - let nature take its course.  This means there might be a little sediment in the bottom of some of the bottles.  From about 12 gallons of wine I pulled off 61 bottles.  A little darker than a Rose but with the distintive taste of Muscadines.  Not overly sweet or overly dry.  It comes close to a Rose Piesporter.  I used the new nylon corks that have the spiral wrap on them.  I soon saw that I would need a rubber mallet to put the corks in place.  Time will tell now.  I did it all in the bathtub in the big bathroom.  The bottles are now (temporarily) stored in the bathtub.

Getting Bottles Ready

Well I am about ready to bottle the Robbies Run Muscadine wine.  I have had many people give me their used bottles.  I have learned to scrape, clean and get them ready.  I think at last count I have about 8 cases of bottles ready.  One final wash/rinse and we should be on our way.  I have also collected about a case of plastic water bottles for Sadies' Apple Cider.  I hope to get the wine/cider in the bottles over the next couple of weeks.  If you hear a major explosion - you will know what happened.