WineXpert Bulk Aging a Winexpert Kit

[MikeW]

Hello everybody

I'm a new winemaker and am currently working on a staggs leap merlot kit. It is finishing secondary fermentation and I want to bulk age it.
I want to know that I need to do different from what the directions say in stabilising and clearing to bulk age.
Help!! I want this wine to be perfect!!!

 

[Bert]

Mike; You can follow directions untill you get to the bottling stage and just leave it in the carboy...than every 2 or 3 months rack it to a clean carboy....this will give you a very clear wine...also every 3or 4 months add 1/4 tsp of powdered k-meta or 3.5 to 4 campden tabs....I have made that wine...8 months bulk age and 1 yr. in the bottle and starting to be a very nice wine...good luck

 

[Wade E]

Make sure that if you use the campden tablets to crush them up good and dissolve them in a little wine that you can extract from your carboy and add it back or you can dissolve it in a tiny bit of warm water. Just make sure its dissolved good or youll be posting back in a few weeks asking what this white residue is floating on top of your wine.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Mike,
Note how long Bert is waiting on that wine. By my count he is waiting about 22 months from yeast pitch.


I have made this same kit, had it on oak 11 wks, and bulk aged after that for 8 months, and now at 21 months it is starting to be really drinkable but I am noting Bert's final line "it's STARTING to be a very nice wine...."
Think I'll wait a few more months....

 

[rrs26ja]

I am also a new wine maker and I am in the middle of a wine expert Barolo kit. I was also thinking about bulk aging. Are there any advantages to this besides making your wine clearer?




Also why so long? I was under the impression using these kits that I could have good drinkable wine in < 1 year.

 

[JimCook]

In each of the wines that I have made and I have noticed that Waldo's 'Time Time Time' song makes the difference comparable to the growth of a seedling plant into something that can flower/bear fruit. I have watched and taken note as yeast swarmed through must after must pillaging the sugar population contained within. I have watched and taken note as the bubbles slowed in a secondary fermentation, time with or without oak, and then just time alone letting the wine come into its own and learn how to present itself. Like anything living, all are changing day by day. And like anything living, the impression of what is 'good' is highly subjective.


I have tasted a very large variety of commercial wines (2000+) in the time that I have been interested in wine and I have let commercial bottles sit and age just like I let my own wines sit and age. At certain frequencies, or if it just fancies me, I open a bottle of these wines and revisit them to see what they will show me on this day. Sometimes it is very similar to when I last spent time with them - and sometimes it's something quite different. At this point, on my own wines (the oldest was started in February 07), they continue to get better and better.


Were they drinkable in less than a year? Sure. Are they better now? Absolutely. It seems safe to say that the higher end the kit, the more time it may take to really reach its full potential. George notes that he has tried some of the Meglioli kits young and they were still fantastic. Make what you like - drink it when you like - save a couple of bottles back to open over time and keep making more kits in the meantime and you'll do just fine.


- Jim

 

[smurfe]

I proceed with every step until the wine is clear and stable and ready to bottle. I then just cover the carboy with a dark old t shirt and leave in a dark cool spot to age. I just check the air lock every now and then. I add some sulfite's every 6 months. I don't rack unless there appears to be some lees on the bottom.


rrs26ja: You can drink these wine before many of us do. Just remember, the time frame the literature states are absolute minimums. Many drink and enjoy wines like this one after 6 months. If you give it the time to age though, your wine will develop into one comparable with most any fine wine you would buy at the wine shop.


You don't have to age them, some just choose to. All of my red wines get 2 years before I even bottle them. I am one of the I guess unfortunate that can detect the dreaded Kit Wine taste. It does go away with age though. The wine will also mellow ought and become silky smooth.I have wines here I bought when I came to the last Winestock still in the carboy. I guess I ought to bottle it sometime soon.


My advice? As you make your wines, give them a taste. If you bottle when done, open one up every now and then and sample. You will notice improvement with age. You will find that it may be quite suitable for you at a much earlier age. Drink it when it suits you. Not when others say you should.

 

[Wild Duk]

So to clear things up, the directions say to sit 28 days after racking off the the first lees, then bottle.....So if bulk aging one of these kits, how long would you keep it at room temp. before setting the carboy away for a few months? Until the first racking, or until it says to bottle????

 

[JimCook]

Wild duk,


The way I work the kits is to move them to a bulk aging phase after the completion of the secondary fermentation and then the degassing of the wine. I personally do not add fining agents unless a wine refuses to clear with time. I prefer to bulk age for a minimum of six months. Also, all of my winemaking operations take place in the basement in a 'dedicated' room, so I don't change temperatures - the only case where you may want a higher temperature is if you are degassing the wine using a stirrer, otherwise get it into a cellar-like condition and let it sit. If I see lees depositing on the bottom of the carboy, I'll rack off of them after they have settled and packed down.


Hope that answers your question,


- Jim

 

[uavwmn]

Wild duk, I am one of these people who age their wine in the bottle. I opened a MM AJ Amaronne that is 6 months old. It tastes "good". It will taste even better 6 months from now.

I make sure my wine is clear before I bottle it. All my wine so far have been clear before bottling.

Hope this helps.