This is the second busiest time of year in the cellar, hence the lack of Hive postings. It's time to finish all those wines to get them into bottle. Follow along as I take you through some of the cellar processes to get the raw wines into bottle.
After trial blending all the small lots, its time to put together all the pieces in actual reality. This is always a little bit stressful, all my trial decisions now to finality. Once they're blended, they can't be undone :P
They get assembled from barrels and smaller tanks. There's build up from leftover yeast, and settling. Here's a look at some of the pretty things.
Rows of barrels
This is the barrel cleaner that goes in the upside down barrel to wash it out
Inside the tank door
Racking wine out of a stainless barrel using a metal barrel wand, with some drips and spills
Tartaric acid build up
The bottom of a 3000L tank, shot from the ladder above
Cheers!