Bottled Poetry

Patiently awaiting bottling! 
We've got more new releases on the horizon! You've seen the 2012 Grenache, Mourvedre, ZC Red, and Knucklehead on the tasting menu; we just finished bottling the rest of our 2012 vintages.

The bottling procedure has a lot of moving parts. Once the wines have completed the blending process, they are ready to be moved from barrel to tank in preparation for the bottling truck. Next, the bottling truck pulls up and away we go! Then the wines are all boxed up and stored in the cellar until their release date.

Harvest prep is also in full swing. We've got brand new barrels arriving and empty barrels prepped and ready for filling.

The other big harvest prep task is summer racking. We don't filter our wines; instead we rack. In the barrel, the yeast starts to settle toward the bottom pushing the "clear" wine towards to top and essentially creating a layer. Eric uses a "rack wand" that he inserts into the barrel and pulls the clear wine out and into a clean barrel. We'll do this again when it's time to put the wine in the tank in prep for bottling.

Next time you're in, take a peek in the barrel room and see what we're up to!

Cheers,
ZC Crew


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