Bottling the 2006 Vintage

Another year passes and it was time to bottle the wine again.

This time around I chose March 6th for the job. With much less wine (100 litres of red and 100 litres of white), it was an easier task than last year.

Why did we mix the grapes in 2005 but make separate red and white wines in 2006? Well this was not our decision, since all the processing was done in our neighbour Orlando's adega (wine cellar). Until we get our own space and equipment for producing wine, we will be at his mercy. So far, it has been interesting for us to see (and taste) the difference, but we prefer having separate white and red wines. One problem, though, is that the majority of our vines are white grapes; the only way we got any red to speak of is because Orlando is so generous with his grapes...

Bottling was also easier this time around because I borrowed a different (newer) corking machine. We ended up with around 100 bottles of each and a few of the 5-litre demijohns,

As I mentioned previously, we bought the two barrels in Tabua, where there's one little coopering business still making them in chestnut (and perhaps other woods too). Two 100 litre barrels cost me well under 100 euros. I wonder how much longer they'll be available; most people around here seem to be moving over to stainless steel.