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New glass bottles leave the factory in a sterile condition. However, new bottles often contain carton dust, and even new glass should be rinsed. Bottles stored for extended times should always be rinsed before filling. Some home winemakers turn up the hot water heater a few hours before starting to bottle wine. Then clean (previously washed), used bottles are rinsed with very hot water just before filling. Other winemakers rinse each bottle with a sulfur dioxide solution. The sulfur dioxide solution is made by mixing 1/4 tsp. of sulfite powder and  tsp. of citric acid in 750 ml of clean, cold water. This sulfite solution is strong enough to sterilize the bottles, but care must be taken to drain the bottles completely.

Plastic milk crates are a convenient way of handling glass while bottling. Milk crates hold about 20 bottles, and they are easy to keep clean. If one end of the crate rests on a block of wood, the empty bottles will be held on a slant, and the angle makes filling easier.

Some type of bottle filler should be used at bottling time to minimize wine oxidation. However, wine is always exposed to a significant amount of air when the bottle is filled. Most home winemakers use a piece of clear plastic hose fitted with plastic, wand type bottle filler to siphon the wine into the bottles. Simple bottle fillers have a small valve on the end of a rigid plastic tube. The plastic tube is placed in the empty bottle and the valve opens when it contacts the bottom of the bottle. Wine begins to flow when the valve opens, and the bottle is filled from the bottom. Little splashing occurs when filling is done slowly, and wine oxidation is held to a minimum.

Small, two or three-spout gravity type bottle fillers specifically designed for home winemakers can be purchased for about one hundred dollars, and these fillers are very convenient moderate quantities of wine are made. Gravity fillers are much faster than wand type fillers, and smaller commercial wineries often use larger, multiple spout gravity fillers. A gravity filler consists of a small tank to hold the wine, a float valve assembly that keeps the wine in the tank at a constant level and filler spouts. Tanks two and three-spout machines can be filled by siphoning with large diameter tubing. Tanks on machines with several spouts are best filled with a small transfer pump.

Operation of gravity type bottle fillers is quite simple. The operator places an empty bottle on an empty spout, and the machine starts filling the new bottle. Filling continues unattended while the operator removes other full bottles and places empty bottles on the spouts. When the new bottles become full, the machine automatically stops filling. Once the filler is adjusted properly, all of the bottles will be filled to the same uniform level. Little spillage occurs, and if the operator is careful, the outside surfaces of the bottles remain clean and dry. Although these little machines are simple in design, they are surprisingly fast. Most gravity bottle fillers can fill two bottles per minute for each spout. For example, a machine with four spouts can fill more than eight bottles a minute, and one person is kept quite busy changing the bottles.

the bottom of the cork. Most wand type bottle fillers leave too much air space in the bottle. Some winemakers prefer to fill and cork one bottle at a time. Other winemakers prefer to fill several bottles and then cork the lot. In any event, leaving full bottles of wine open for long periods is not a good practice.

Corking

Standard wine corks are sold in large, sealed polyethylene bags containing one thousand corks. The corks are sterilized with sulfur dioxide gas when packaged, and the corks remain in a sterile condition until the bag is opened. The water content of the corks is carefully adjusted just before packaging, and the humidity in the bags is carefully controlled. Corks taken from a sealed bag are soft, pliable and resilient. They can be driven easily, and the soft, pliable corks quickly conform to the neck of the bottle and form a tight seal.

Dry corks should be driven into the bottle whenever possible, but many small corking machines cannot adequately compress hard, dry corks. Then the winemaker has little recourse, and softening the corks is necessary. The normal procedure is to soak hard corks in cold water until they become soft enough to drive with the corker available. A pinch of sulfite can be added to the water to help sterilize the corks as they are soaking. Very wet corks are undesirable because excessive “cork water” will be left when the corks are driven into the bottle. Cork water can be avoided by soaking the corks for a few hours, and then the corks are covered with a clean cloth and drained overnight.

Corks can be quickly softened (and probably sterilized) in a microwave oven. However, corks burn easily, so some practice may be needed. First the corks are rinsed in clean water and then sealed a plastic, zip-lock storage bag. The sealed bag is then placed in a microwave oven. Some experimentation with the time and power settings will probably be necessary.

Corking machines should be adjusted so the top of the cork is set just below the lip of the bottle. Spilled wine should be removed from the outside surface of the bottles when the corking operation is completed because wine left on the glass makes labels difficult to apply. Mold often grows on the spilled wine, and after a few weeks an unsightly residue can form on the bottle.

Labels

All wine should have a label permanently attached to each bottle. Producing custom wine labels with a home computer is easy and fun. If a scanner and a color printer are available, a variety of artwork can be incorporated into the label design, and very professional looking labels can be produced easily. Some glues wrinkle light weight papers, so labels are best printed on medium weight paper. Some bond papers seem to work well. Wetting one side of a sheet with water, and then carefully observing the paper for a few minutes is a good test for label papers. Papers that stretch and wrinkle excessively probably will not be suitable for labels. Layout 4, 6 or 8 labels on standard 8.5 X 11-inch paper. If the layout is carefully done, the labels will be easy to cut with a paper cutter, and little paper will be wasted. A few extra labels should be made when the labels are printed. The extra labels can be pasted on the cartons to identify the contents, and the labels give case goods a professional look.

Capsules and labels can be applied when the bottles are clean and dry. Home winemakers often use an inexpensive, short bristled, 1-inch brush to apply glue to labels. White “Elmers” glue works well with heavy weight papers. Unfortunately, this glue is water-based, and it may shrink or wrinkle some types of papers.

cardboard a little smaller than the label. Place the label face down on the cardboard and apply the glue with the brush. Apply the glued label to the bottle and quickly smooth out any wrinkles. Try to place the label in the proper position the first time to avoid smearing the bottle with wet glue. Clean the brush and glue container with warm soapy water when finished. A “glue stick” is very convenient when just a few bottles are being labeled.

When labeling short runs, commercial wineries use a “label paster” to apply just the right amount of glue to the back surface of plain paper labels. These machines apply glue quickly and easily, and they save a great deal of time. Unfortunately, small pasting machines are expensive. New machines cost $600 or $700. Second hand machines are in great demand, and they are very hard to find.

Capsules

Most home winemakers and some commercial wineries use plastic capsules. Plastic capsules can be obtained in a variety of colors, and they can be custom printed. Plastic capsules are inexpensive, and they provide an attractive, finished look to any bottle of wine. “Push-on” capsules are made of heavy weight, plastic material, and many home winemakers prefer this type of capsule because they are easy to apply. The capsule is simply pushed onto the neck of the bottle.

Unlike push-on capsules, “heat-shrink” type capsules are made from thin plastic material. They are available in a greater range of colors and finishes, and they are slightly less expensive. Heat- shrink capsules are placed over the neck of the bottle, and then heat is applied to shrink the plastic material tightly to the bottle. Large wineries pass the bottles through a heat tunnel to shrink the capsules in place. Home winemakers use electric heat guns, or they shrink the capsule by dipping the neck of the bottle in boiling water.