Carboys to Bottles

This evening we managed to bottle up almost 9 cases of wine! Rough breakdown:

- 2 cases Leach 07. I was afraid it would taste flabby, but we think it's pretty good. Fruity, strong but smooth. Yeay!

- 2 cases Estate 07, which we think will need to age a LONG time to age (still tasting very sharp & acidic).

- 2 cases Estate / Leach 07 blend. More like a big Cab; likely due to the presence of the very acidic / strong 2007 estate. I think it'll be OK with big red meat or marinara sauce.

- 2 cases 08 Zinfandel. Fruity, light but heavy alcohol (especially noticeable when eaten after a mouthful of cheese). I imagine this one may mellow out over time.

- 1 case of an 08 blend; mostly Zin with some estate Cabernet. It's very reminiscent of the Zinfandel above (fruity, but with a Cab kick). Needs time to age.

As last year, we've been saving wine bottles all summer, soak in ammonia to remove the labels, then clean and store until bottling day. Within an hour of bottling, I re-rinse and sterilize, either with boiling water or a solution of water & potassium metabisulfate.

We also added 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate before bottling - a token amount to ensure nothing goes awry while aging.