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1999 Chianti Experience

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4/17/00 Bottling

Finally, in April, we decided our Chianti just needed to get into bottles. It'd been aging since November, and the flavor wasn't changing much. It was still a little too sharp for my palate. Bottling may seem very complicated, but it's really pretty easy!

You rack the wine one day before you bottle, to remove any final sediment that may have collected. On bottling day, with sanitized equipment and bottles, you start the wine flowing out of the carboy and into the waiting bottles.

We have an attachment at the end of our tube that lets you start and stop the flow of wine simply by pressing down on the tube. It works really well, letting you move the tube from spot to spot without leaking wine all over the place.

With a simple corking lever, you put the cork inside and pull down on the arms. It doesn't take much pressure at all - the arms do all the work for you.

Once the arms are out sideways, you're all set! The wine is in the bottle, the bottle is corked, and you can enjoy the wine at your leisure. Let it stand upright for a day or two to equalize the pressure, and then keep it on its side like all wine, so the cork stays moist. Enjoy!

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