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Bottling Your Homemade Wine

The most satisfying stage of winemaking — here is how to bottle safely and professionally.

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Bottling Your Homemade Wine

Bottling day is deeply satisfying. After weeks or months of waiting, you finally have something to show for your efforts. Here's how to do it properly.

Before You Bottle

Your wine should be:

Completely clear — no haze
Stable — SG the same over two readings 48 hours apart
Stabilised — Campden tablet and potassium sorbate added

Do not bottle a wine that is still fermenting. You risk exploding bottles — messy, dangerous, and heartbreaking.

What You'll Need

Clean, sterilised wine bottles (750ml)

Corks (new ones, soaked in a Campden solution)
A hand corker
A bottle filler (a simple wand with a valve that stops the flow when lifted)
Siphon tubing

Sterilising Bottles

Wash bottles thoroughly with a bottle brush, then sterilise with a Campden tablet solution (16 tablets dissolved in 4.5L of water). Allow to drain upside down. No need to rinse.

The Bottling Process

1.Siphon the wine from your demijohn into a clean jug or bucket (to make bottling easier)
2.Use the bottle filler to fill each bottle to about 1.5cm below the neck
3.Cork immediately — don't leave filled uncorked bottles sitting
4.Repeat until all bottles are filled
5.Label each bottle with the wine type and year at minimum

Corking

Soak your corks in sterilised water for 30 minutes before use — this softens them and makes insertion easier.

Use a lever corker or floor corker for consistent, deep corks. Hand corkers work but require more effort.

Storage

Store bottles on their side — this keeps the cork moist and prevents it shrinking and allowing air in. Store in a cool, dark place. A garage, cupboard, or under-stairs space works well in the UK climate.

Labelling

Label your bottles with at least:

The wine type (e.g. Elderflower 2026)
The bottling date
The approximate ABV

This saves a lot of head-scratching when you open a mystery bottle two years later. A little pride in your label goes a long way too.

When to Drink

Most country wines benefit from at least 6 months in bottle. Darker, more tannic wines (elderberry, damson, blackberry) can take 1–2 years to really come into their own. White and flower wines (elderflower, gooseberry) are typically at their best at 6–12 months.

Always keep a few bottles back for comparison. Tasting the same wine at 6 months, 12 months, and 2 years is one of the great educational experiences in winemaking.