WineXpert Aging of port

[cindyjo]

Hello all,
Yes I am still be obsessive about my chocolate/rasberry port. It has been sitting in my carboy for a couple of weeks now and could be bottled any time. I was just wondering if you guys bulk aged this for awhile in the carboy or do you just get it into the bottles. Then how long to you wait unitl openning one of those bottles.

I am guessing that you could wait for awhile to open. Given that it is only 3 gallons I want to be sure that I get the most out ofeach bottle.
Thanks
Cindy
Life is too short to drinklousy wine in cheap glasses

 

[Wade E]

This 1 will drop sediment in bottles if bottled to soon, take it from someone who rushed this last year so that I was able to share it with a family member that wasnt gonna make it too much longer and loved chocolates and raspberries so I bottled it early and now have, well you know what I have! I must say IMO that it tasted as good after a month in the bottle as it does now though so nothing lost, just a little gained in the bottle!

In the end it was worth it as that member of the family didnt make it to the next holiday.
Edited by: wade

 

[pelican]

Wade, so sorry to hear about your loss last holiday season.

As for the sediment - did you filter yours last year before you bottled it?

Cinyjo, I also have a choc raspberry port in the clearing stage awaiting the time to rack, and look towards bottling. (I haven't made any decision whether to filter or not yet). Have appreciated following your progress in this thread. Thanks for keeping us up to date on your port!

 

[Waldo]

If you are going to fortify it cindy I would recommend you go ahead and do another rackin, fortify it and then let it bulk age a while longer before bottling. The extra Alcohol will also help settle out any sediment remaining.

 

[uavwmn]

Cindy, I made this port last year and did not bulk age. But I did let it sit in the carboy a little longer than what the directions called for. It is 9 months old now and tastes pretty darn good. No sediment that I could see in my glass.

 

[Wade E]

I did not have a filter at that time but would have if I did only because of its early bottling.

 

[cindyjo]

Thank you all for your comments. Wade I am truly sorry for your loss and probably would have rushed the bottling too for that reason. I do not have a filter (yet, Santa Claus is coming soon) and am not sure what fortifying means Waldo. I would appreciate some instruction on that. According to the directions it is ready for bottling now, I may wait until next weekend. Doing another racking might be tough as I do not have another carboy that size. Not really sure what to do. There is sediment on the bottom and the wine looks pretty clear.
Thanks Cindy

 

[Wade E]

Fortifying means the act of upping the abv by adding another higher proof alc like brandy or Everclear grain alc etc.
As far as racking is concerned I strongly advise always racking off sediment before bottling or you will be sorry as 1 slip while bottling and youll have a very cloudy wine right in the middle of bottling. I would rack into primary bucket or bigger carboy, clean the carboy you had it in and then rack back. Racking from a vessel with sediment in the bottom may negate all the clearing and waiting that you have done so well in.

 

[NorthernWinos]

When we are in need of a receiving carboy we rack into the bottling bucket or primary bucket, cover it tightly.... rack all the wines into each others carboy...then put that wine out of the bucket into the last carboy.

 

[cindyjo]

OK, that is what I thought fortifying meant but was not sure. I had not planned on doing this. I tend to go by the directions as I do not feel I have enough experience to start messing with the kits. Racking to the primary and then back to the carboy sounds like a good idea to avoid stirring up the sediment. I guess I will do that next weekend.
Thanks for all the advice.

 

[pelican]

Cindyjo,

I just racked my CR Port today. I racked into a cleaned/sanitized primary fermenter bucket -- and there were a lot of lees, sediment. I ended up with a full liter of wine-and-lees and strained that through some cheesecloth to try to get all the port I could out of this batch! I hated the thought of tossing out so much just because the stuff at the bottom mixed up in the last of the wine!

I transferred it back into the carboy and letting what sediment strained through again fall out, and there's a bit already. I may have to save that sediment in the end and use it to make some quick bread just to save all that yummyness (though I am not sure I want the bentonite and finings in bread - have to ponder that idea a little more). Mourning the racking losses already...

Wade, I probably will filter this then when I bottle it. Do you think filtering would strip any of the flavor or "body" out of this ?

 

[Wade E]

I have filtered quite a few wines and never noticed any flavor loss at all. I did notice a little color loss with my plum wine but it was very minuscule.

 

[cindyjo]

Well Pelican and Wade it was a day for bottling. I transfered the CR Port to another carboy and have 14 and half lovely bottles. I am trying a bit out of that half bottle and it is fantastic. I am looking foward to trying some in a couple of months. Thanks for all your help
Cindy

 

[Scott]

Did any of you have to top off after racking? If so what did you use?


The nice thing about starting mine late is learning from yours,Thanks!

 

[Wade E]

You should have extra wine from when you pulled some out to put in the f-pack. If needed though you could add a liquor like vodka or brandy or EverCleer or use sanitized marbles to displace the missing amount.

 

[Waldo]

It will get much better with some age on it cindy

 

[Jwhelan939]

I bulk aged about 10 months. They sat in the bottles for the last 3 or so. I opened the first one up the other day and I was a little surprised. It is a very good wine, however it has next to no hints of chocolate or raspberry. I was surprised because of how many of you stated that the flavors were strong. My only though is that maybe it was bulked too long and I should have bottle aged it instead.

 

[Jwhelan939]

Just to ad, I did filter it. Maybe that had an effect.

 

[Wade E]

You did put the whole f-pack in there right?

 

[cindyjo]

Scott, I did not have to top off much after racking, the wine removed for the f-pack brought me pretty close, I think I added maybe 2 cups of water.


I only bulked aged for maybe an extra week or two and I am probably going to open one for Christmas which is 6 weeks away (gasp). Then I will probably wait for 4-6 months before opening another.


I thought the flavors were pretty strong, the berry and chocolate came through distinctivelyand the wine smooth, I did not filter as I do not have one.I hope Santa sees that one.
I am glad I started this post as it has been nice to have other people working on the same kit