How long do you bulk age whites for?
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3-6 months depending on wine
winemaker_3352
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Same here - min 6 months - then depending on the taste - may go another 3-6 months.
trufflehunter
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I am new to wine making,. What I would like to know is what happens to the wine post fermentation while it's being bulk stored. I made 120 litres of 3 different wines in Italy, White pecorino Rose montepulciano and Rose Sangiovese. The grapes were good, slow fermented at cool temperature, tasted the wines yesterday. They all seem very promising, no bad smell or flavours, BUT there is sharp acid on the taste. Is this normal for new wine this age, will it just drop out with time, or does it need some sort of acid correction? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Luc
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I almost never bulk age any of my wines.
As soon as finished fermenting ansd cleared the wine is bottled.
Many whites like elderflower and apple-peach are consumed almost immediately after bottling. Some like apple have to age and then I'll age them for a year before I start drinking those.
I want my carboys to be free for making new wines, so no bulk aging for me.
Luc
As soon as finished fermenting ansd cleared the wine is bottled.
Many whites like elderflower and apple-peach are consumed almost immediately after bottling. Some like apple have to age and then I'll age them for a year before I start drinking those.
I want my carboys to be free for making new wines, so no bulk aging for me.
Luc
Luc
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You should off course have tested acidity BEFORE you started fermenting the wine. But done is done.
Most young wines will mellow out during ageing. So patience would be the key here.
However you do not state the level of acidity so it is difficult to say if your wine is over acidic or not. Measuring levels is always a great help.
Luc
If you are using a fining agent to speed up the clearing then I highly recommend you giving it some extra time in carboy as it will still drop out some fine sediment. I know Luc doesnt use any fining agents so clearing to him means bulk ageing for some time.
I found that one out myself. I generally clear by time. I tried Super-Kleer one time. Gave it 2 weeks and racked it off. It looked brilliant, so I bottled. About a week later, I had sediment in every bottle.
Depends on the Varietal. Rieslings and Pinot Grigio seem to settle down much faster than a Chardonnay or Viognier.
Like others have said 3-6 months usually but I have had several that took a full year to get really ready to go.
Like others have said 3-6 months usually but I have had several that took a full year to get really ready to go.
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Mike has several that took a year to get bottled because he's always on vacation. LOL Thats the best part of this hobby as mentioned before is that you can walk away from the wine after it starts aging from several moths at a time coming back just to check air locks and S02 levels.
Hehehehehehe......
Its about time to take another I think!
Its about time to take another I think!
That explains why all the aging recommendations seemed really high.
