Saturday was the last class of Millbrook Vineyard & Winery’s Winegrowing Boot Camp. We took the vines from the cradle to the bottle and Saturday we proudly bottled our season’s hard work.
After the grapes were pressed the wine went into neutral oak pungents about 270 gallons and is fermented in those barrels. The wine went into the barrels after the grapes were pressed until 2 weeks ago. At that time the barrels were moved outside to cold stabilize the wine.
The pungents came back inside and wine was racked into a tank. Then put into a portable plastic tank they use for small bottling. They bottled the first 84 cases that morning before the class came. Now it’s the time to bottle and label the classes wine.
The wine gets pumped out of the tank, goes through two cartridge filters to fine the wine. Then into the bottle, it gets corked and put into the boxes for sale.
We were all responsible for catching our bottles as they came down the line and packing them in the cases.
As the first graduating class of Millbrook’s Winegrowing Boot Camp I can say I learned lots, had a great time participating and made new friends. I am very thankful it was a great growing season!
