Advantage of bulk aging vs. bottle if not adjusting wine.

[D_D]

My first kit has cleared out really nice, and I wonder if there is any benefit to aging in bulk compared to bottles if I am not planning to do any adjustments.
Since this is my first try with a wine kit, I want to see what a default kit can do, the only change I have made is omitting the sorbate since it is a dry red.
The advantage as I see it with bottling fairly early is that I don´t need to buy 2 liters of top up wine to prevent oxidation in the carboy.

 

[Brian55]

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/a-little-rjs-tasting-comparison.69969/

 

[Scooter68]

Even if not planning on not back-sweetening or other adjustments there is always that chance of unexpected fallout, crystals forming etc. Some folks feel forced to bottle because they are short on carboys but as long as you are happy. It's just not practical to 'un-bottle' wine if something changes on you.

It will age in the bottle too so it's not something anyone will know unless you tell them.

 

[1d10t]

You buy 'cork time' with bulk aging? OK. Not the concern here but is a potential consideration for some.

 

[Johnd]

My first kit has cleared out really nice, and I wonder if there is any benefit to aging in bulk compared to bottles if I am not planning to do any adjustments.
Since this is my first try with a wine kit, I want to see what a default kit can do, the only change I have made is omitting the sorbate since it is a dry red.
The advantage as I see it with bottling fairly early is that I don´t need to buy 2 liters of top up wine to prevent oxidation in the carboy.

Even if you don't plan to do any adjustments to the wine, there are still a couple of advantages to a reasonable amount of aging in bulk.

1. You will give your wine ample time to degas, it WILL NOT degas in a bottle once corked.
2. Most wines continue to drop sediment for a period of time, time in bulk allows you to leave that sediment behind in the carboy and not have it settle out in the bottle.

If you are certain that your wine is free from CO2, and don't care much about sediment, you can certainly bottle it. At one time or another, most of us have done it..............

 

[D_D]

Even if you don't plan to do any adjustments to the wine, there are still a couple of advantages to a reasonable amount of aging in bulk.

1. You will give your wine ample time to degas, it WILL NOT degas in a bottle once corked.
2. Most wines continue to drop sediment for a period of time, time in bulk allows you to leave that sediment behind in the carboy and not have it settle out in the bottle.

If you are certain that your wine is free from CO2, and don't care much about sediment, you can certainly bottle it. At one time or another, most of us have done it..............

Thanks for your input.
I gave it the mother of all degassings with a wine whip, basically not a single bubble coming out of it when I was done, so that will not be an issue.
I noticed a few days after racking that there was a very thin layer of sediment at the bottom of the carboy, so there might be some more clearing to do. I plan on filtering the wine before bottling, but since I only got 1 micron filters, it better be as clear as possible to prevent clogging the filter.
I think I will leave it for another 3-4 weeks before filtering it just to make sure.

 

[Johnd]

I gave it the mother of all degassings with a wine whip, basically not a single bubble coming out of it when I was done, so that will not be an issue.

Famous last words, LOL!! Many a wine whipper has discovered tongue tingling wine in a bottle after beating the hell out of it...

If you're going to run your wine through 1 micron filter media (.45 microns is sterile), it needs to be crystal clear to avoid clogging. You should consider running it through a course filter media (7 microns) before attempting the 1 micron filter media.

 

[D_D]

Famous last words, LOL!! Many a wine whipper has discovered tongue tingling wine in a bottle after beating the hell out of it...

If you're going to run your wine through 1 micron filter media (.45 microns is sterile), it needs to be crystal clear to avoid clogging. You should consider running it through a course filter media (7 microns) before attempting the 1 micron filter media.

Tasted it without any tingling note to it, but since I´m going to store it a shared basement, I sure want to avoid embarrassing myself
Will pick up some 5 micron filters in case the 1 micron clogs up.