# The Longest period...



## bkisel (Nov 11, 2016)

What is the longest period of time you've waited between cleaning/washing your *bottles* and then sanitizing and bottling - without any ill effect?

Would spritzing washed bottles with k-meta and then covering with Saran Wrap allow them to be used sometime latter for bottling without having to wash again? About how long? I've gone many months between carboy use and having washed them - though after the wash has dried I hit them with sanitizer and then again before use. Can I do the same with my bottles? Logic tells me yes but practical experience might prove differently.

Thanks...


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## DoctorCAD (Nov 11, 2016)

Upside down in cases for months. Rinse with k meta solution right before filling.


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## bkisel (Nov 11, 2016)

DoctorCAD said:


> Upside down in cases for months. Rinse with k meta solution right before filling.



Thanks. That's what I was hoping to hear.


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 12, 2016)

DoctorCAD said:


> Upside down in cases for months. Rinse with k meta solution right before filling.



Same here. Rinse, dry, store, sanitize, fill, cork. Repeat. I don't think there's any time limit between the store and sanitize steps. I keep them upside down as well to keep the dust out.


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## geek (Nov 12, 2016)

I wash them, spray meta while wet then store upside down in the box for days or weeks then bottle.


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## opus345 (Nov 12, 2016)

Boatboy24 said:


> Same here. Rinse, dry, store, sanitize, fill, cork. Repeat. I don't think there's any time limit between the store and sanitize steps. I keep them upside down as well to keep the dust out.



Same. Although I didn't store them upside down until I read one of Boatboy's previous posts. Learn something new everyday. Seems pretty intuitive now.


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## Pal (Nov 12, 2016)

In response to the statement "I wash them, spray meta while wet then store upside down in the box for days or weeks then bottle, I am inclined to disagree here. From the standpoint of sanitization, it is better to let the K metabisulfite solution stand in the inverted bottles more than a minute or so before starting to fill in your wine. Prolonged storage of these sanitized open bottles in the cardboard box is not desirable because of possible contamination of freshly made wine by the un-sanitized/non-sterile cardbord box.


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## Johnd (Nov 12, 2016)

I'm either using new bottles, of empties from my own wines consumed by me or returned to me by a recipient of my wine. New bottles, straight out of the box are sanitized and go onto the bottle rack for immediate use. Reused bottles are cleaned, delabeled, and soaked in hot water before drying and going into a box, from there they are handled like new bottles.


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## bkisel (Nov 12, 2016)

geek said:


> I wash them, spray meta while wet then store upside down in the box for days or weeks then bottle.



Varis, do you sanitize one last time just before bottling?


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## geek (Nov 13, 2016)

bkisel said:


> Varis, do you sanitize one last time just before bottling?



No, for me they're good to go.


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## JohnT (Nov 15, 2016)

I have a 5' by 5' by 5' bin on wheels. When a bottle of wine is drained, I clean it immediately with hot water (three rinses minimum) and oxy clean + 3 rinses. I then put them on a rack to completely dry. Once dry, it goes into the bin. 

They are clean and dry. They can stay in the bin for years before use. 

Before use, I give it a quick rinse with water, then hit it with sanitizer and I have never had a problem.


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## rustbucket (Nov 15, 2016)

Immediately upon emptying a bottle of wine, I rinse the bottle three times in warm/hot water from the tap and then turn it upside down on a paper towel propped in a corner of the counter to dry. After it's dry, the wine bottle go into a wine box for storage. 

The day before bottling day, I soak the bottles to remove the labels and clean them with an oxiginating cleaner like B-Brite or Easy Clean. The bottles are sanitized on bottling day and placed upside down in the bottle tree. 

Filtering is an option. My white wines generally do get filtered before bottling. The reds get filtered only if I have a concern about their clarity. The filtered wine is transfered to a bottling bucket instead of going into another carboy. My practice is to add a 1/4 teaspoon of Kmeta at this stage. That addition helps to protect the wine from the air exposure the wine may experience in an open top bottling bucket. Once in the bottling bucket, the wine is immediately bottled and corked. 

The corked wine bottles are left sitting on the counter for three or four days, after which I label them and apply heat shrink capsules. 

I like to use different colored capsules for each wine made. Doing so makes it easy for me to quickly find what ever wine I'm looking to open for my intended use.

As the new wine maker reading this thread can see from the bottling practises of the forum's experienced posters, there are many variations on the bottling process. None are wrong! Develop a process that works for you. The most important goal in any process is that the bottles are clean and sanitized when your new wine goes into them.


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