The Wine Press and the Cellar: A Manual for the Wine-Maker and the Cellar-Man

by Emmet H. Rixford

Bottle Washer.

Fig. 28.

Fig. 29.

Bottle Drainers.

Bottles should always be carefully washed and drained before using. They are best washed by the use of a machine made for the purpose, which scrubs them inside—and sometimes, also, outside—with a brush ([fig. 27]). If only a small number of bottles are to be cleaned, it may be done by using the chain made for the purpose, or by putting in coarse sand or gravel and water, and thoroughly shaking them. Shot must not be used, for a portion of the lead will be dissolved by the water, and if any remains in the bottle it will be acted upon by the wine, and lead poisoning may result. In many cases it will be necessary only to rinse them out with clean water. Whether new or second-hand, they must be scrupulously clean before using. After the bottles are rinsed, they should be allowed to drain by leaving them inverted for an hour or two in a dry place; if they are left in a damp cellar, they are liable to contract a musty flavor within. They may be drained by placing the necks downward through holes bored in a plank, by inverting them in boxes or baskets, or by placing them upon pegs or nails driven into a post, and inclining upwards sufficiently to leave the opening of the bottle down, when the neck is slipped over the peg or nail. Figs. [28] and [29] show devices for the purpose. The bottles are sometimes rinsed out with wine, or if intended to contain very poor, weak wine, with a little brandy. This is done by pouring the liquor from one bottle to another.

It is best to use bottles uniform in size for each lot of wine, and certainly to reject those which are cracked, have large blisters, and those which are very thin. These latter, however, may be employed, if but little pressure is used in corking, but they should be placed by themselves, or on the top of the pile. No one would make use of such bottles except to store wine for his own consumption.

Clear and transparent bottles are used for white wine, and those of colored glass for red. Hock, however, is often put in brownish bottles, conical in shape. White wines which are perfectly limpid show to advantage in clear bottles, but red wines, if stored in such, are liable to lose their color by the action of light.

It is important that the glass of which wine bottles are made should not contain too much soda, potash, or lime, or they may combine with the acids, and injure the wine. By the use of crude soda, alkaline sulphites may be formed in the glass, and communicate an odor of sulphuretted hydrogen to the wine.