A few years ago Heidi and I had a few friends over the night we were bottling our Elderberry and Lambrusco wines. We had such a good time we decided to make it a tradition, have a small gathering for 'Bottling Night'. We put out some snacks, invite a few wine loving friends and family, and make a night of it. OF COURSE you have to sample the wine, liberally.
We set up an assembly line. I prep the wine, the bottles and get everything in place. Heidi fills the bottles (You have to watch her though; after the first glass she tends to get distracted, snapping back to the task at hand by an overflowing bottle.) We have someone cork the bottles, another put the heat shrunk capsules on, and finally someone to label them.
We were able to bottle close to four cases of wine in under 2 hours, and have fun doing it. About 30 minutes into it we heard Giada calling for us. She'd heard her aunt, Nonna and Bapa (3 of her favorite people in the world) downstairs laughing and talking, and wanted to be a part of the action. She wanted to help, and my sister was kind enough to entertain her with her 'mad peekaboo skillz'.
How was the wine? This might be my best yet. The grapes were old vine Zinfandel, pressed in Oct of 2006. Why's it 07? I date them by year they should have been bottled...something I have to correct this year. The extra 6 months of bulk aging mellowed it out, leaving the characteristic zin taste, with plenty of black pepper and a pleasant buttery feel. This is going to be tremendous with the next big pasta dinner.
I'll be posting some pictures of the event tomorrow...stay tuned.
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