vino

I love wine. Especially red wine. In fact, I like it so much that I have it specially made for me at Vine 2 Wine in Northville, Michigan. And although Al's not a wine drinker, he agreed to let me give it away as favors at our wedding. In late December/early January, I ordered two batches of wine for the wedding: Valpolicella and Vieux Chateau du Roi. But when you order wine at Vine 2 Wine, it isn't just waiting for you eight weeks later, bottled, corked, and ready to drink. No; it's ready eight weeks later for you to bottle and cork (and drink, of course).

This past weekend, one of the things I spent hours doing was sanitizing the bottles I will put the wine in when it's ready. Forty-eight bottles: I soaked them in hot water and scrubbed of (or peeled off) the labels; I put them through the dishwasher on a normal wash + a high temp scrub; I took them out of the dishwasher, put a few drops of bleach and scalding hot water in each and let each soak for more than an hour; I ran them through the dishwasher again (again, normal wash + high temp scrub); and when they finally came out, I took a flashlight and inspected each bottle to make sure they were each like new. They turned out beautifully, and when I bottle the wine in a month or so, they'll go through Mark's sanitizing process, as well (Mark and Sherry are the owners). And they'll get something extra special: a custom-made label, that you'll have to wait for the wedding to see. And not to worry; if you don't drink alcohol, we'll have sparkling cranberry juice set aside for you.