The Virtues of Patience or A Story for New Winemakers

[ShelleyDickison]

Just a story for all the new wine makers out there. When the all knowing and all seeing say patience is your friend and you scoff and roll your eyes like I did please listen to them. I made a batch of Cranberry Pomegranate from juice back in December of 2012 and it was absolutely awful tasting. So tart and puckerery with such a hot alcohol taste I could have probably ran a rocket off of it. Well I checked on the forum and everything I read said to give it time so I did. I waited and waited and waited, made it a whole month before it drove me crazy and I had to try it.....after all it had aged right. It was horrible, worse than when I bottled it. I was so disappointed and frustrated that I decided I was going to empty all the bottles and try it again because I must have done something wrong. Well I set them aside to deal with after the holidays and then life happened. A couple broken bones, a couple of surgeries and my beautiful fourth grand daughter being born, plus my youngest and her family moving to Japan, the bottles never got emptied, well lets be honest, I forgot about them. So today I was going through my wines to do some updating and I found them, was totally shocked I still had them. Anyway I decided to open one up and was floored by the difference that time made, it had only been about 8 months. It is now smooth with barely any tartness, just a tiny bit you can feel in the back of your throat and the alchol burn is almost non existent. So instead of emptying the bottles I will now let them sit longer and check them in a few more months. Moral of the story...aging may not improve people but it does wonders for wine.

 

[Rocky]

Great first hand experience there, Shelley. Nothing to add to that story and it has a happy ending.

 

[Boatboy24]

'Nuff said.

 

[bkisel]

Allow this new guy to be a naysayer. My wife and I are very pleased with the wine we're drinking from two RJS 4 week kits - bottled at week 4 and aged for two months. I believe that many of the kit wines are designed/formulated to be decent drinkers without long aging periods.

EDIT: Oops, on rereading my post sounds kind of negative and not appreciative of the OP. It is not the way I feel. Guess I'll stick with the kits for the time being.

 

[Terry0220]

Allow this new guy to be a naysayer. My wife and I are very pleased with the wine we're drinking from two RJS 4 week kits - bottled at week 4 and aged for two months. I believe that many of the kit wines are designed/formulated to be decent drinkers without long aging periods.

EDIT: Oops, on rereading my post sounds kind of negative and not appreciative of the OP. It is not the way I feel. Guess I'll stick with the kits for the time being.

Doing kits is a great way to use patience. If you do do a juice, fruit or other kind of wine from "scratch" having the wine kits to do while you wait is the best way to go, you have something to drink while the other is taking its time. Otherwise, waiting for the wine to age does try the patience,,lol Good luck

 

[Turock]

As much as you try-------you cannot change reality. Fruit and grape wines need aging. If you want early drinkers, skeeter pee and DB is the way to go. And kits too, as Terry said.

If you think 8 months is bad, try making Pinot Noir. It is not ready to drink for 2 years--and 3 years is even better.

 

[Tess]

I have one down there now Im hoping for this same thing. It will be Christmas at least before I try it and it is a version of skeeter Pee. Yukaroo!! is all Im gonna say about that

 

[bkisel]

As much as you try-------you cannot change reality. Fruit and grape wines need aging. If you want early drinkers, skeeter pee and DB is the way to go. And kits too, as Terry said.

If you think 8 months is bad, try making Pinot Noir. It is not ready to drink for 2 years--and 3 years is even better.

I think some of my attitude comes from starting this wine making so late in life (I'll turn 69 in just a week). On one hand 3 years will go by in a flash but on the other hand do I want to wait that long to enjoy the fruits of my labor?

 

[Turock]

I understand why you feel rushed. But you will not enjoy young wine like you will when it's aged. Worth the wait.

This is why you might want to buy some extra carboys. Get quite a few going, and you'll always have something to drink that is well aged and clear. Winemaking is a good hobby for older people because the learning curve is good for your brain. The brain stays more functional when it's learning new things. No matter how old I get, I'm a very active retiree--always learning new stuff and doing things I never did before. In my head------I'm 21. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[GreginND]

Some of my fruit wines from 5-10 years ago are tasting really good right now.

 

[DoctorCAD]

4 week kit wines are not horrible at 4 weeks, but not very good either.

Let em sit!

 

[ou8amaus]

I have only recently been introduced to the whole aging concept and now have a few decent red kits bulk aging... But I would like to set realistic expectations. Although difficult to quantify, what changes are reasonable to expect? I know it depends on the kits, the ferment confitions, aging conditions, etc... but all else being equal just how much better will the wine be? The truth will be revealed to me in a year or two, but I trust in your opinions... Are we talking night and day, a noticeable improvement, slightly better... etc

 

[jswordy]

Allow this new guy to be a naysayer. My wife and I are very pleased with the wine we're drinking from two RJS 4 week kits - bottled at week 4 and aged for two months. I believe that many of the kit wines are designed/formulated to be decent drinkers without long aging periods.

EDIT: Oops, on rereading my post sounds kind of negative and not appreciative of the OP. It is not the way I feel. Guess I'll stick with the kits for the time being.

Just do this for me: Take ONE bottle of each kit you make and write on it the month and year when it will be 1 year old. Then save it. Now, you're not going to miss just one bottle.

Please let us know what you find in late 2014 when you begin to open them.

 

[the_rayway]

I'm working on selective memory loss: I only remember that I have stuff fermenting, and the mist style on the shelves. That way, a year goes by before I know it!

 

[Tess]

I have no problem waiting. Iv been buying my wine for years. I can continue to do that until my wine is ready. Plus, I can always enjoy skeeter or DB to keep me busy until then

 

[bkisel]

4 week kit wines are not horrible at 4 weeks, but not very good either.

Let em sit!

The two RJS VdV kits I've done have you bottling on day 28 (approx.) but recommend 2-3 months before consuming. Guess the advertising a "4 week kit" is misleading.

 

[bkisel]

Just do this for me: Take ONE bottle of each kit you make and write on it the month and year when it will be 1 year old. Then save it. Now, you're not going to miss just one bottle.

Please let us know what you find in late 2014 when you begin to open them.

I've already planned to set a couple (2 Pinot Noir & 2 Pinot Grigio) aside for Christmas/New Years time frame. Shouldn't the Pinot Grigio being a white wine made from a low end kit (RJS VdV) be drunk within a year?

Thanks...

 

[GaDawg]

I'm new at this (1 ye,ar of winemaking)
I try to alternate between early drinkers and wine to age.
My Johannisberg Riesling is really good after about 2 mo. and made Chardonnay for the ladies. Made a mid priced Merlot and a good Pinot Noir which is great.
I have also rjs Winery Series Super Tuscan and Merlot. I am trying to stay out of the Super Tuscan, but boy is it good with only a few mo. of age

 

[jswordy]

I've already planned to set a couple (2 Pinot Noir & 2 Pinot Grigio) aside for Christmas/New Years time frame. Shouldn't the Pinot Grigio being a white wine made from a low end kit (RJS VdV) be drunk within a year?

Thanks...

That depends. Most wines, whether white or red, will do well with a year of aging and sometimes two. Before the end of two, IMHO the reds can continue on but the whites should be consumed.

 

[robie]

I have only recently been introduced to the whole aging concept and now have a few decent red kits bulk aging... But I would like to set realistic expectations. Although difficult to quantify, what changes are reasonable to expect? I know it depends on the kits, the ferment confitions, aging conditions, etc... but all else being equal just how much better will the wine be? The truth will be revealed to me in a year or two, but I trust in your opinions... Are we talking night and day, a noticeable improvement, slightly better... etc

Just noticed your post.

A new, too young wine, which would normally require some aging might be compared to taking a bite from an unripened normally red apple .vs. that apple when it is fully ripened. When young, it will be very tart with very little flavor, other than the tartness and some facsimile of what it will become if given time. (With experience, some can taste that young wine and have a pretty good idea of what it will become when it grows up.)

Over time, the wine will become less tart; the flavors will go from tart to sort of bitey (disorganized), to smooth. The tannins and natural flavors will integrate more and more over time to bring this about.

If it is a kit wine, it also very likely will start out with a degree of kit wine taste, a sort of chemical taste that comes only with kit wines. That KT will diminish over time. KT is more prominent in a red than in a white. Some say there is no such thing as KT. It is the reason why this guy simply can't drink a red kit wine before its time and that time is after KT is gone.

Given enough time, a kit wine can become a good wine. Maybe not a $30 wine but a good wine. We all differ greatly on this last point. You will have to decide for yourself in time.