Owner and winemaker at Long Point Winery, Gary Barletta, was sure to give us a full week’s notice before ‘bottling day’.  A few selected days out of the year are devoted to bottling the wine, and require intense preparation and diligence, especially on the part of the winemaker.  Bottling days tend to be some of the more hectic days at the winery with all hands on deck and a steady work pace.  Long Point Winery hires the service of a mobile bottling unit operated by Cornell grad and owner/winemaker of Hickory Hollow Wine Cellars, Peter Oughterson.  Mobile bottling units can save wineries the enormous up-front costs of a stationary bottling unit and also the floor space required by one of these units.

Like a highly-tuned, machine-opearted assembly line, the bottling unit fills a bottle, squeezes in a cork, shrinks on a capsule, and sticks on a label, all in a matter of seconds.  It was really quite fascinating to witness all the raw materials come together to produce the finished product.

More soon.
Ryan