RJ Spagnols blackberry/merlot

[kelley]

My question is what do I haft to do to just keep my wine In the 6 gallon carboy, I dont have the extra money right now to buy any wine bottles to keep my blackberry/merlot In, I would like to let the wine set for about another 5 or 6 weeks before I bottle It, do I need to add anything to It so It doesn't go bad?

 

[grapeman]

Make sure it is topped up properly and it will be fine until bottling. You might want to add1/8 to 1/4 extra potassium metabisulfite before bottling if you will be waiting that long.


Most of us here rarely buy bottles. There are many sources of free bottles to get ahold of. Check anywhere that handles wines by the glass, including wineries (tastings), restaurants, bar and liquor stores. They just toss them out so they are free. The hardest part is the label removal. Do a search here on the forum for bottle cleaning and you will get a lot of information.

 

[rrussell]

I just went to my nephews' sons wedding. Rresult-seven cases of bottles. enough for 2 1/2 wine kits. all free.

 

[uavwmn]

Kelly, go to your favorite restaurant that serves wine, they would probably case up bottles for you. Or if you have friends that drink wine, ask them to save the bottles for you. Only bottles I have bought were the Port bottles.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep, tell your friends and visit a few restaurants and before long you'll have bottles coming out of everywhere. I think I have 40 cases of empties now in the winery and overflowing into the garage. I am about as full as I can get but it sure is hard to turn down someone when they say "hey you need any bottles?"

 

[fivebk]

I now have 975 bottles de-labeled, washed, and back in their case boxes just waiting to be filled up. I got most of mine from a local winery.

BOB

 

[Runningwolf]

Holy crap Bob, thats over 80 cases!I usually have a 20-40 case reserve but maybe only 7-20 cases cleaned ahead of time.

That does not include 10 cases of ice wine bottles I have ready to go for this fall.