tonyhibbett
Landlord.
Although wine matures better in bulk, my experiments with a wooden cask and various plastic containers have led me to conclude that, for white wine, bottling is the best long term solution, tedious as it is.
Having finally processed almost 60 bottles, I'll do it differently next time.
The best recycled bottles to use are clear glass, have plastic lined screw caps and labels which peel off easily.
Unfortunately these are quite rare. Most are green or brown, many are still designed for corks, some have non re-useable foil or paper cap seals and almost all have stubborn labels. Best source, an overfilled bottle bank!
It's best to remove the metal collar, using a short kitchen knife, as this makes accurate filling easier.
Although removing the labels is not strictly neccessary, because you can stick your own labels over them, it's quite easy to do if you submerge the bottles in hot soapy water and use the edge of a Stanley knife blade, which also removes the glue.
Labelling seemed a nice idea, but printing, cutting, gluing and aligning also proved tedious. Most inkjet printers do not use pigment dyes so are not waterproof and fade in time. Laser is best. If you design the label to size 99.1 x 67.7, (rotated 90 degrees) you can use laser labels and get 8 per sheet, avoiding all the cutting and glueing.
A rigid wine rack is still the best way to store them, even though they don't need to be stored on their sides, having no corks to keep moist. Avoid direct sunlight, frost and high temperatures.
Having finally processed almost 60 bottles, I'll do it differently next time.
The best recycled bottles to use are clear glass, have plastic lined screw caps and labels which peel off easily.
Unfortunately these are quite rare. Most are green or brown, many are still designed for corks, some have non re-useable foil or paper cap seals and almost all have stubborn labels. Best source, an overfilled bottle bank!
It's best to remove the metal collar, using a short kitchen knife, as this makes accurate filling easier.
Although removing the labels is not strictly neccessary, because you can stick your own labels over them, it's quite easy to do if you submerge the bottles in hot soapy water and use the edge of a Stanley knife blade, which also removes the glue.
Labelling seemed a nice idea, but printing, cutting, gluing and aligning also proved tedious. Most inkjet printers do not use pigment dyes so are not waterproof and fade in time. Laser is best. If you design the label to size 99.1 x 67.7, (rotated 90 degrees) you can use laser labels and get 8 per sheet, avoiding all the cutting and glueing.
A rigid wine rack is still the best way to store them, even though they don't need to be stored on their sides, having no corks to keep moist. Avoid direct sunlight, frost and high temperatures.
