My first real bottling day

This past Saturday at Running Brook winery in Dartmouth we bottled what is my first commercially-produced wine.  The 2007 Vidal Blanc is now in the bottle.  A total of 575 cases.  For those not familiar with the term, a full case of wine contains 12 bottles, so that makes it 6,900 bottles of this Vidal Blanc wine.
 
I didn’t sleep well the night before bottling.  I was worried about way too many things.  Though we had a bottling machine specialist on hand, it was my first hands-on experience with the automated “beast”.  I had been told that sometimes bottling doesn’t go as well as expected, especially when bottling wine that has to be sterile filtered on the way to the bottle like this off-dry white wine.
 
But what really had me sweating was the simple realization that this was it… once in the bottle, there is little a winemaker can do to alter the taste of the wine for the better or the worst.  It’s like saying goodbye to something you had under your watch for a long time.  Did I forget something?  Did I measure and adjust the free sulfite level correctly?  We’ll we succeed removing all of the remaining lactic bacteria from this wine?  Are the corks we selected the right size for the bottle we going to use?  Are we going to be able to maneuver in the tight space we have to work with in the winery?
 
The bottling went fine and I came home at the end of a 12-hour long day with a sense of accomplishment.  I could never imagine a year and half ago that I would even be involved in something which most winemakers would consider of small dimension but that feels quite big to me.
 
The wine will now enter what is commonly known as “bottle shock” and it won’t taste its best for a few weeks.  Hopefully within 3 months it will recover and be ready to show it’s true character.  Until then I keep my fingers crossed and move on to the next bottling session.

Comments

[winehiker]

Marco, this is wonderful news. Congratulations! No doubt you'll recover well before 3 months are out. Be proud of your accomplishment, rest easy, and embrace the next adventure!

[john bean]

that's brilliant marco. congrats ! can't wait to get a taste.

are you going to have a first cork popping party ?

[Carla]

How exciting! Save some for me to taste next time I'm up :)

[Marco Montez]

Winehiker - Thanks for your comment and encouraging words. BTW: I've added your blog to my blog roll.

J.B. - You bet. I will definitely share that special moment with all of you who have subscribed to the mailing list.

Carla - No worries... there will be plenty of this wine available and hopefully it will make your visit back home that much sweeter.

[Nuno Capataz]

Awesome!
This is the first of many. I'll like to watch your next bottling.

Good luck with everything!
Nuno

[Tim]

Hooray!
Congratulations on yet another milestone! It's really exciting to watch as you progress down this path. I raise my glass to you. Cheers!

[Marco Montez]

Nuno - Thanks... there's no such thing as watching the bottling, you better be ready for some serious work :-)

Tim - Thanks again and hopefully soon that glass of yours will have some of my wine in it...

[winehiker]

Much obliged, Marco! You're listed in the Winehiker Witiculture blogroll, too. Cheers!