Bottling Day Is Almost Here

We’re getting close to a milestone we’ve been working toward for nearly a year: bottling our first Navinnus Forty Two Cellars wines!

The latest sign that it’s actually happening? A pickup truck full of empty wine bottles.

We picked up the bottles this week. Our labels are scheduled to be printed this week as well, and by the end of August, we’ll have bottled our 2025 Dry Riesling and 2025 Dry Rosé of Cabernet Franc.

A Lot Happens Before Wine Goes Into a Bottle

The photo above is what hundreds of empty wine bottles look like when you’re a very small winery, and your delivery vehicle is the winemaker, Scott’s, pickup truck. When we started this process last fall, bottling seemed so far away. First came harvest, then fermentation, followed by months of monitoring, tasting, testing, and making decisions about the wines.

Meanwhile, we were working on everything that has to happen beyond the tanks. We jumped over licensing hurdles, developed the labels using artwork by our daughter, Talia, worked through the federal label approval process, ordered bottles, and figured out the logistics of getting the finished wine ready for sale.

Note to self: It turns out that making the wine is only part of launching a winery.

Next up: Bottling Our Wines

We’re a very small winery, so there isn’t a big automated production line waiting for us. We’ll be hands-on for bottling, just as we’ve been throughout the rest of the process.

There will still be more to do afterward, but bottling is a big step. For the first time, the wine we’ve been tasting from tanks will be in the same bottles that will eventually make their way to other people’s tables.

Those empty bottles stacked in the truck may not look particularly exciting, but to us, they look like progress.