so I am sure there are several different views on this... but do you think bulk ageing is worth the time... I have seen some people bulk age.. some just bottle and enjoy.... with a wine kit like mine (castel de papa) would it be worth the time to bulk age?
bulk ageing
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It certainly is worth waiting to bottle any good kit for a few extra months. That gives it a bit extra time to shed any leftover sediment in there. It also will keep temperature fluctuations lower helping with a more uniform early aging. And then it also will make it more certain that there is no left over gas in the wine. It also helps to get More age on the wine because you are less apt to want to drink it before it ages enough to live up to it's full potential.
Another good idea is that if you can't wait a year or more to drink some of your wine, buy a cheaper earlier aging wine like one of the Mosti Vinifera Noble or Renaissance kits. That way you can enjoy a good wine and still keep the better kits aging.
Another good idea is that if you can't wait a year or more to drink some of your wine, buy a cheaper earlier aging wine like one of the Mosti Vinifera Noble or Renaissance kits. That way you can enjoy a good wine and still keep the better kits aging.
Carboys, You need<STRIKE>lots of</STRIKE>a bunch ofcarboys. If you think of your wine storage as a revolving door itcan becheaper and easyer tokeep your wine in carboys. As you drink the wine you will reuse both the carboys and the bottles over and over.
Carboys can be stored on strong shelves or carts. while bottles are best stored in wine racks. It takes planing to store carboysin a small space. However It is easier for me to keep up with one carboy than 30 bottles.You will need tokeep your airlock filled.You should add on average 1/4 tps. of k-meta and rack every four mounths with a carboy. With the bottles it takes money and space for a wine rack or racks.
Either way you will still need space for carboys and wine bottles.
Asix gallon carboy holds 30 bottles of wine. (2 1/2 cases of bottles)
2 1/2 cases of bottles takes up more room than a carboy.
A carboy cost around $45.00 30bottles cost about the same. (bought new or spent in time finding and removing labels)
Not to mention that it will improve the quality of most wines.
As Appleman said the trick to aging your wine is having something else to drink and something else to do while you wait. This is where the quick kits come in. (example: Vinifera Noble )
Some people even come up with crazzy off the wall $5.00 wines to past the time.
Carboys can be stored on strong shelves or carts. while bottles are best stored in wine racks. It takes planing to store carboysin a small space. However It is easier for me to keep up with one carboy than 30 bottles.You will need tokeep your airlock filled.You should add on average 1/4 tps. of k-meta and rack every four mounths with a carboy. With the bottles it takes money and space for a wine rack or racks.
Either way you will still need space for carboys and wine bottles.
Asix gallon carboy holds 30 bottles of wine. (2 1/2 cases of bottles)
2 1/2 cases of bottles takes up more room than a carboy.
A carboy cost around $45.00 30bottles cost about the same. (bought new or spent in time finding and removing labels)
Not to mention that it will improve the quality of most wines.
As Appleman said the trick to aging your wine is having something else to drink and something else to do while you wait. This is where the quick kits come in. (example: Vinifera Noble )
Some people even come up with crazzy off the wall $5.00 wines to past the time.
guitar, take it from a skeptic. I started my first two red kits just over a year ago, and it took them a full year to turn into something enjoyable. Both were all-juice kits, one Mosti, one not. I blended them together after several monts of bulk aging, but they still weren't drinkable. I was beginning to think they were a lost cause. I kept hearing others talk about having no bottles left after a year. But mine just didn't taste good until right around the year mark. Then suddenly it was awesome. I gave a lot of it away for Christmas gifts and everyone seems to enjoy it. Oh one more note, I did add medium toast French oak cubes to both batches during bulk aging, and I think that took more time to mellow out. But it was well worth the time.
Tom
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Find a BYOB or BYOW restaurent or even a bar that will save you bottles.
Tell your friends to save empty wine bottles. You will be surprised how many of your friends drink wine. You will NEVER have enough empty wine bottles. The more you get FREE the cheaper your hobby / obsession will be.
Tell your friends to save empty wine bottles. You will be surprised how many of your friends drink wine. You will NEVER have enough empty wine bottles. The more you get FREE the cheaper your hobby / obsession will be.
AlFulchino
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one of the bestthings i can sayto a question such as your is one size does not fit all.....while all the answers above are right on target there is still a reason for you to just go drink some of yours right now and forgo aging.....
why?
here is the why....i am assuming that there is a newness to your winemaking history....i assume that for one reason....that reason being that you *asked* that question...an experienced wine maker knows the answer
one of the extremely wonderful benefits of winemaking is that the experience teaches and nothing teaches better than experience....
so lets say you are getting 25-30 bottles from this kit...why dont you start enjoying a bottle of your new past time every two weeks and start another kit of whatever in oh say 30 days....by the time you are into your 4th, 5th or maybe sixth bottle your next wine will come online.....and you can mix the newest wine into your schedule and so on...my point is that you will *experience* for yourself just what aging does.....and then you will have some of this wine 1-2 years or so down the road as well
the wine will tell its tale and it also will tell on you by that i mean it will talk to you in terms of whether or not your winemaking procedures carried it properly to term
some wines taste great young too! and yours may be one of them...how will you know if you just go age it for a year? you wont. and some people that you share with might just like it BETTER young....you may not, but down the road if you keep things going, you can pull out two of the same varietals that you have aged for different lengths and both of you will be happy...and you will be able to do it because you experienced it for yourself.
anyway, that is just my small 2 cents
why?
here is the why....i am assuming that there is a newness to your winemaking history....i assume that for one reason....that reason being that you *asked* that question...an experienced wine maker knows the answer
one of the extremely wonderful benefits of winemaking is that the experience teaches and nothing teaches better than experience....
so lets say you are getting 25-30 bottles from this kit...why dont you start enjoying a bottle of your new past time every two weeks and start another kit of whatever in oh say 30 days....by the time you are into your 4th, 5th or maybe sixth bottle your next wine will come online.....and you can mix the newest wine into your schedule and so on...my point is that you will *experience* for yourself just what aging does.....and then you will have some of this wine 1-2 years or so down the road as well
the wine will tell its tale and it also will tell on you by that i mean it will talk to you in terms of whether or not your winemaking procedures carried it properly to term
some wines taste great young too! and yours may be one of them...how will you know if you just go age it for a year? you wont. and some people that you share with might just like it BETTER young....you may not, but down the road if you keep things going, you can pull out two of the same varietals that you have aged for different lengths and both of you will be happy...and you will be able to do it because you experienced it for yourself.
anyway, that is just my small 2 cents
We tend to bulk age our reds because I like the higher end 'skins' kits and they need time to taste their best. You could certainly enjoy them sooner if you wished. Today we are burning our way through a white kit that I made in August. Its Winexpert Italian Trebbiano and its lite and crisp. Al's suggestion of tasting often is great, because learning is much of the fun with this hobby.
AlFulchino
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let me just add one more thing to what Moto-Girl just said about tasting often......i have some very fine tasting amarone coming on ( it should get bottled this week)......i just love this wine because when it is young it has a youth and sweetness to it that is lively, refreshing and easy to drink....as it ages ( i have some of mine that is three years now) it gains a beefiness....a maturity...its almost like its showing off its wisdom and the complexity is amazing......
the only way i found this out was to drink it when it was young and save some for aging...and because i liked it also when it was young i havemore than onewine stylefrom the same batch......each year it tells me a different story about it which gives me different uses for it
i had been told to let it age for 6-12 months....glad i didnt let all of it age like that because it blew me away even when it was young..and this new batch is doing the very same thing
the only way i found this out was to drink it when it was young and save some for aging...and because i liked it also when it was young i havemore than onewine stylefrom the same batch......each year it tells me a different story about it which gives me different uses for it
i had been told to let it age for 6-12 months....glad i didnt let all of it age like that because it blew me away even when it was young..and this new batch is doing the very same thing
Tom
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I have made Amarone (w/ added raisens) from Italian Juice for the last few years. Trust me it ages very well in bottles. I would wait 4 years min before you sell. If you check in the wine stores it goes for $50.00 MIN. Those are aged at least 4 years before it goes on the shelf. Each year I bring a bottle to our wine club for a tasting. They all enjoy it.
Mine is still aging in bottles.
Just a FYI
Mine is still aging in bottles.
Just a FYI
sounds great... I am a bit confused though since I am new to this... to bulk age you do not add in the clarifying agents until 8 to 10 days before botttling... but is there anyway I could bottle the wine and have some of it to enjoy now and some to age it bottles or something? because you can age in bottles right? I just wasn't sure if you where supposed to add the potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation if you where wanting to age...
can someone basicly just give me a quick run down of what my options are and what the steps would be to age the wine...?
can someone basicly just give me a quick run down of what my options are and what the steps would be to age the wine...?
Options:
1 Bottle and you are done ( easy, might not keep as long 3 years +?)
2Bulk age some then bottle (better,still easy, need to add k-meta every 4 months)
3 Bulk age (wine master)
And yes you can age in the bottle
I would recomend at the very least bulk aging a red winesix months.I am saying to bulk age red wines and have fun with other wines while you wait. Al is saying that you can bottle your first wines without bulk aging so that you can taste it as it ages. ( You can learn a lot that way) Bulk aging is good but it is your hobby and it is nice to enjoy it as you go. After a few wines go by youcould get around to bulk aging. ( Al is right!!)
1 Bottle and you are done ( easy, might not keep as long 3 years +?)
2Bulk age some then bottle (better,still easy, need to add k-meta every 4 months)
3 Bulk age (wine master)
And yes you can age in the bottle
I would recomend at the very least bulk aging a red winesix months.I am saying to bulk age red wines and have fun with other wines while you wait. Al is saying that you can bottle your first wines without bulk aging so that you can taste it as it ages. ( You can learn a lot that way) Bulk aging is good but it is your hobby and it is nice to enjoy it as you go. After a few wines go by youcould get around to bulk aging. ( Al is right!!)
Tom
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Yes I add clairfying around2-3 months from begining. This helps to clear over the next few months/year.
It gives you a more "polished" look.
When you do your kits "FOLLOW DIRECTIONS" as to when to add chemicals. Although af you adding the last chemicals I would age in the cartboy a little longer. One exception is making a "patio Wine" (low % wine in the 6-7% range).
It gives you a more "polished" look.
When you do your kits "FOLLOW DIRECTIONS" as to when to add chemicals. Although af you adding the last chemicals I would age in the cartboy a little longer. One exception is making a "patio Wine" (low % wine in the 6-7% range).
Manykits say that you can drink at 6 months. If you plan to drink at six months than I would follow the directions then bulk age up to the 5 month mark then bottle. leave it alone to the six month mark then you can drink a very young wine and let it age in the bottle. (This would be option 2) You have less sediment in your bottle and the wine is more clear and you still get to drink it.
