How long in the carboy?

[John Prince]

I've been making wine for 1.5 years and have made over 1000 bottles. I have been keeping my good reds in the carboy for over a year. Kool aid wine for 4 months. I just talked to a guy that said keep the good red wine for 6 months then bottle it. Any thoughts?

 

[John Prince]

...........top......

 

[byrondahl]

I keep my reds in for the full year. I rack a couple of times during the year. I think the wine ages better in bulk.

 

[TonyP]

I've been making wine for 1.5 years and have made over 1000 bottles. I have been keeping my good reds in the carboy for over a year. Kool aid wine for 4 months. I just talked to a guy that said keep the good red wine for 6 months then bottle it. Any thoughts?

To a large extent, bulk versus bottle aging is a matter of personal preference. I'm confident most wine makers believe, however, that bulk aging is at least as good as bottle and perhaps better. (I think only a small number believe bottle aging to be superior.) Bulk aging allows the wine to clarify fully, permits you to more easily make corrections if a problem is encountered, and bulk wine is less influenced by environmental factors. Having said all that, sealing issues could be disastrous to bulk aged wine and should be monitored.

 

[robie]

To a large extent, bulk versus bottle aging is a matter of personal preference. I'm confident most wine makers believe, however, that bulk aging is at least as good as bottle and perhaps better. (I think only a small number believe bottle aging to be superior.) Bulk aging allows the wine to clarify fully, permits you to more easily make corrections if a problem is encountered, and bulk wine is less influenced by environmental factors. Having said all that, sealing issues could be disastrous to bulk aged wine and should be monitored.

I agree. I have noticed many reds from kits can come out a little flabby (low acid). That is OK for porch-pounder wine, but not so good for food pairing wine. Bulk aging gives one time to let everything settle down and opportunity to correct this.

A month or so before bottling, I like to taste test my wine for good acid level. I pour 2 small samples; add a little acid to one and compare it to the other, non-modified sample. In the end, it's not so much about what the acid level scientifically measures as it is how it tastes.

 

[Boatboy24]

I agree. I have noticed many reds from kits can come out a little flabby (low acid). That is OK for porch-pounder wine, but not so good for food pairing wine. Bulk aging gives one time to let everything settle down and opportunity to correct this.

A month or so before bottling, I like to taste test my wine for good acid level. I pour 2 small samples; add a little acid to one and compare it to the other, non-modified sample. In the end, it's not so much about what the acid level scientifically measures as it is how it tastes.

Off topic, but what sort of acid do you add - regular acid blend?

 

[John Prince]

Okay, after I bulk age for 1-1.5 years then bottle. How long should I wait to drink it? I've made over 1000 bottles in the last 1.5 years and tend to drink a bottle while I bottle it. Somebody said the aroma develops in the corked bottle rather than in the carboy.

 

[Gr8zins]

I don't bulk age more than two years. Just bottled this red Zin after 2.years and it's awesome. The wine improves aft the bottleshock wears off. I feel mine reach a peak at the 2-5 year mark. They don't get any worse, but they don't improve a lot either after that time.

 

[DoctorCAD]

The benefit to carboy aging is that you can't easily mess with the wine so that allows it to sit undisturbed for that year. With bottle aging, its easy to move the bottles, stirring them up and generally disturbing the wine.

The problem with carboy aging is that you have a much harder time trying the wine to see if it is still improving. Its not impossible, just more work. With bottle aging, simply open a bottle at 6 months and drink!

2 sides of the same coin!

 

[TonyP]

Okay, after I bulk age for 1-1.5 years then bottle. How long should I wait to drink it? I've made over 1000 bottles in the last 1.5 years and tend to drink a bottle while I bottle it. Somebody said the aroma develops in the corked bottle rather than in the carboy.

Let me try to change your thinking a little bit. Instead of focusing on how long to bulk or bottle age, consider them two sub-parts of one process. Start by estimating how long you want to age in total (within a range), then split between bulk and bottle aging. So, if you want to age for approx. 12 months, split that between bulk and bottle aging - 8/4 or 9/3 or any other combination of 12. The only caveat is to bottle age at least 1 month to let the wine adjust.

Also, if you're like me, you'll drink or give away the wine over several months, which is why I suggested, above, to consider a range.

Finally, if you go past 1 year of bottle aging, make certain the quality of your cork is sufficient to last that long. Not all corks are created equal.

Tony P.