Cellar vessels, lots, racking, blending and barrels

MakeWine's cellar module gives every tank and barrel an identity, every volume of wine a lot number, and every movement a record — the backbone of a traceable cellar book.

Register your vessels

1. Go to /cellar/vessels — the Vessel Register — and press Add vessel.
2. Give it a Cellar number (e.g. T-01, B-07) — this is the reference used in racking records.
3. Pick a Vessel type: stainless tank, Bordeaux Barrel 225L, Burgundy Pièce 228L, Concrete Egg, Qvevri / Clay, Demijohn / Carboy and more. Barrel types reveal extra Oak details fields: oak species, toast level, cooperage and number of fills.
4. Set capacity, status (AVAILABLE, IN USE, CLEANING, MAINTENANCE) and save with Add vessel.

Open and track lots

Lots are opened from a wine's detail page: open the Lots tab and press + Open lot. The lot number is auto-generated in the format L2026-CAB-001 (year, ingredient abbreviation, sequence) — edit it if you use your own scheme. All lots across all wines live at /cellar/lots (Cellar Lots), with phase filters (PRIMARY, MLF, AGEING, FINING, BOTTLED), an Open only toggle and search by lot number or vessel.

Rack a lot

1. Open the lot's detail page and press 🪣 Rack.
2. Record the date, destination vessel (from the register or free text), volume transferred, lees left behind, any SO₂ addition and the reason (e.g. After primary fermentation).
3. Save — the racking is added to the lot's history, so you can trace every movement back to harvest. Use Update on the same page to change phase, gravity or notes without a transfer.

Blend lots

The blend wizard at /cellar/blend (Blend Lots) combines two or more open lots:

1. Under 1. Select lots to blend, tick the lots you want — each card shows phase, vessel, volume and ABV.
2. Under 2. Configure blend, enter the volume drawn from each component. The percentage of the blend is calculated automatically, with a running total.
3. Choose a Destination vessel from the register (or type a name freely), accept or edit the auto-generated Blend lot number, and set the Phase after blend and Blend date.
4. Press Blend N lots →. The source lots are closed and a new blend lot is opened, with parentage recorded.

Barrels

The Barrel Register at /cellar/barrels shows every barrel-type vessel with an oak-influence gauge (New Oak → Active → Diminished → Neutral) based on fill count and cards for cooperage, species, toast and age. Press + Fill on a barrel to record what went in — lot number, wine name, date filled and volume. Barrels at the neutral threshold (5 or more fills) trigger an alert banner suggesting retirement, re-toasting or secondary-maturation duty.