I design the labels for our wine, print them on our color laser printer using waterproof paper and attach them to the filled bottles.

This type of glue stick works great if the entire back of the label is covered with glue.

A form I built to hold the bottles when applying the labels. It will securely hold 375 ml, 705 ml and 1.5 L bottles.

A 750 ml bottle in the form. The rubber band can be adjusted depending upon the size of the bottle. And no, it is not to hold the bottle in place. It is easy to place and remove with its purpose being to align the top of the label for each bottle in the exact same place each time.

The whole process is actually very easy. The labels are placed back side up on the sheet of paper so that the glue does not get on the countertop. It is important to make sure the edges of the label are well covered with glue. The labels are applied to the bottle using the rubber band as the top guide and the edge of the form as the side guide. After removing the rubber band the bottle is lifted out of the form and the label firmly pressed into place. This process works very well for me and I have labeled many hundreds of bottles and have never had a label come loose, yet when reusing the bottles the labels can very easily be removed.

Two pieces of equipment that make like easier for the home winemaker, a bottle tree and floor corker. We bottle 200 plus bottles a year and the floor corker is worth its proverbial weight in gold. On the days we bottle it takes about three hours from the time I start getting things out until everything is cleaned and air drying or put away. It seems like a lot time, but several years later when the wine is poured into a glass and tasted, followed by the “WOW, that is really, really good,” we know it was well worth the time spent making our own wines just the way we like them.

Just finished bagging a batch of Island Mist Coconut Yuzu that my wife loves. We ended up with three 3 liter bags, two five liter bag and two 1.5 liter bottles from the kit. We always leave the bags on the floor for a couple of days to check for any leakers. We also number the bag and the valve so they always go together as we reuse them over and over.

We also measure out the wine that goes into each bag. Three 1.5 liter bottles and a 750 ml bottle marked at the half liter level work perfectly to fill the five liter bags. While these wines can be consumed as soon as they are bottled or bagged it is never a good idea to have her run out of her wines so I try to always have a year or two supply on hand. She will likely be drinking these in late 2023 or early 2024 depending on our travel schedule.