I may be the devil...I do not want to age this wine.

[jamesngalveston]

I have went from berry juice to clear 14 percent alcohol wine in 4 weeks.
And I know why...No filters, no chemicals, natural process.

The trick to this is in the dragon blood recipe.

I have read countless material on wine, and wine aging...
Consensus....fruit wine other then grapes, really does not need much aging.
I know that is opposite of most of your believes,.
The young wine is as good.
Grapes are different, they need the aging.
Mango,Blackberry,Strawberry, etc is different.
Maybe the Malic acid, etc.
One commercial winery takes its fruit wine, from juice to bottled in 8 weeks.

I want to back sweeten.
I racked and added a campdent tablet one week ago.

How do I back sweeten this wine.....

 

[Julie]

I so totally disagree with you!

Have you made and then drank your fruit wine when it was done fermenting, at 3 months, at 6 months, at 12 months?

 

[dessertmaker]

Dragons blood and skeeter pee are definitely easy to drink early. I have HEARD that it mellows out and gets even better after 6 months. But I have never had the self control to age a bottle for that long. I don't see how it could worsen with age, unless you like that initial hot and bitter taste to your wine. Everybody's taste buds are different.

As a general rule though, I'm with Julie. Every wine fruit or otherwise that I've ever made has gotten better over the period of a year.

Every one that's made it to a year that is....

 

[saramc]

james...drink Skeeter Pee/Dragon's Blood while your country/grape wines age. Also consider keeping the ACV of country wines around 10-12%, most backsweetened by choice (to bring fruit forward) and aged at least six months before bottling--and you should have a totally different opinion. Wine takes time, mead even longer. Even hard cider takes several months. Have patience, you will get there.

 

[cpfan]

How do I back sweeten this wine.....

add sorbate and whatever sugar you want to use.

Steve

 

[Tess]

I don't want to sound rude but I don't know any other way to say this. You have read countless materials on wine. You think you know what needs to be aged and what don't and out of all those materials you have read you dont know how to back sweeten? Im new at this myself but I know enough to know I don't know anything until Iv made a ton of it myself! Good luck on your batch and yes stablize it let it set a week then back sweeten with sugar. Just follow Danger Daves recipe

 

[gird123]

Stabilize. Sweeten to taste and drink! If it is really good drink it all or. Save one bottle if you can for at least a month. I would suggest starting another batch and save two bottles one for one month and one for two months. Repeat until you have a back log. Or just drink it all.

I know I'm weird but my fist batch of apple was WOW. We drank all but two bottles. We save one for six months and it was ok and one for a year and it was no were close to as good.

Every one after has improved with age. If it is great drink it if it could improve save some because it will.

 

[Tess]

Oh yeah, my first batch was Dragons Blood. I was not happy with it at all in the beginning. Its had a couple months in the bottle. Much better!!! I have a case that will age even longer

 

[GaDawg]

Hay, it is your wine, drink it when you want

 

[vacuumpumpman]

We all learn at different rates - what i thought was good wine this week was better wine 6 months latter. I use to crush in the fall and bottle by thanksgiving or definitely by December and I thought it was good. Well I let all my wines mature atleast 1 year prior to bottling. I believe it is definitely better with age.

.

 

[FABulousWines]

"I really wished I had drank that all when I first bottled it; it is much worse now"

--words I have never heard.

But hey, if it's drinkable glug, glug, glug, right?

 

[JohnT]

I so totally disagree with you!

Have you made and then drank your fruit wine when it was done fermenting, at 3 months, at 6 months, at 12 months?

Amen Julie!

I Have heard this type of arguement from many folks (no additives, no chemicals, go natural). It is a nobel stance to take. Most cling to it right up until their first preventable disaster.

'nough said.

 

[winointraining]

I have to agree with Tess , why didn't the material you read tell you how to back sweeten?

 

[dangerdave]

I drink a lot of my DB right away. Some always gets stashed for aging. I think it peaks out at about six months. Not a lot of improvement after that, IMO. However, I've just started making it with oak, so that may change how it ages.

 

[WI_Wino]

I drink a lot of my DB right away. Some always gets stashed for aging. I think it peaks out at about six months. Not a lot of improvement after that, IMO. However, I've just started making it with oak, so that may change how it ages.

Are you oaking in primary, secondary, or during bulk aging?

 

[supergirl]

I've been stalking these boards for a few months now, and this is my first post, I've been dying to ask somewhere!
What is the difference between aging in bulk and aging once bottled? Assuming of course that the wine has been thoroughly degassed and cleared.

 

[dangerdave]

Hey supergirl, welcome to the Forum!

You've hit on one of the most frequently asked questions. The source of many a debate. The answer is, it's up to you. There are folks who sit firmly in both camps. I actually lean towards bulk aging. If you want to keep it, don't put it in a bottle! Furthermore, keeping the wine in bulk allows for adjustments to be made if necessary down the road, provides for a more consistant product, and ease of tasting while it ages (without openning a whole bottle).

WI Wino: I am currently in transition with my oaking. After finally trying a post-fermentation oaking on a Cab Sauv---I've always done it in primary before---with amazing results, I will be doing it that way from now on. Ferment to dry; stabilize; rack to carboy with oak and fruit (raisins or other); leave for a while to taste; then clear. I was very happy with the results.

 

[dessertmaker]

Bulk aging is more stable, less susceptible to temperature changes and off flavors. Easier to make minor adjustments to the whole batch before bottling. But it usually takes quite a bit longer than bottle aging.

Bottle aging is faster, and once its in the bottle there's really no adjustments that can be made. It's also more susceptible to temperature changes.

Personally, I bottle early drinkers like skeeter pee and dragons blood as soon as they fall clear. I bulk age almost everything else.

 

[YourCaptain]

I 'rushed' my first bottling. In truth, I followed exactly the time frames I was given. If you are like me, and follow the recipe step by step for the first few batches, then you, like me, will risk the chance of spraying an entire room with peach wine when the cork pops.

Now I bulk age...

 

[JohnT]

I bulk age for 18 months to 2 years.

I use no sorbate, I use no clarifying agents (other than a light filtration). Bulk aging makes up for this. A lot of sediment develops as wine ages and by bulk aging, I still have the ability to rack.

Also, I use large staves for oaking. The wine needs time to extract the flavors that I am trying to get.