Storage and aging question

[McParadigm]

I'm still in the earliest days of this game but I've got a Chard and a Zinfandel/Shiraz from kits in the carboys, and an Italian Barolo just starting.

The thing is a lot of my wine consumption is still from purchased wines, so some of what I make is going to end up sitting on a shelf for six months to a year, if not more, before it gets consumed.

Is there anything I need to do or add to the wine in terms of aging? Also, I know a lot of people here put pictures up of huge wine cellars full of hundreds of bottles. If I might have a bottle sitting on the rack for, say, a little over a year, is that going to be okay or do I need to start investing in wine refrigerators or something? I can keep the room humid, but I'll be hard pressed to get it much below 70 in the summer.

 

[AlFulchino]

remember that wine stores/liquor stores often go w whatever the ambient temps are..and their wine lasts...yours will too...but of course its not the optimum....55-60 degrees...no light...some humidity ..bottles stored on their sides...that type of thing.......if your temps take big swings then the wine itself expands and contracts...and that can destabilize your cork seal

6-12 mos between bottling and consumption s not enough time for me to consider worrying about

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if you leave the wine in carboys as an example them you will need to add k meta ( same amount as what came in your kit) about every three mos..if however you bottle right after doing your stabilizations per your kit instructions then thats all you have to do

 

[McParadigm]

How long does the time between bottling and consumption have to be before I would need to start answering these questions? I really don't know yet how long it will take me to go through what I make, so I'm just trying to be a bit proactive in my learning.

 

[AlFulchino]

if you follow a kits instructions then usually they tell you when you can bottle...for example say a kit says its 60 days from pitching the yeast to bottle....so you follow all the instructions and stabilize as they say...and then bottle...give it 2-3 weeks to get rid of bottle shock and you can consume or age further in the bottle....some people like to age longer in carboys because all the sediment drops out which drops the need often times for filtering...thats all your choice...but you do need to protect the wine w ke meta if you leave it bulk aging

as to how much you will go thru for consumption....thats all you.....a bottle a week? a day etc start more kits

 

[Wade E]

When you say humid what exactly do you mean by that as too humid can wreak havoc on some corks. 65-70% humidity is perfect, anything more then that can creatye mold on your corksand labels. Stable temps are really what you are striving for which most wine stores do usually achieve by having heat and air conditioning. The only thing failing at a wine store is the sunlight coming through the windows. With your plans on keeping wnes around 1 year Id just get decent 1.75 corks and keep them out of the light and away from vibrations and you should be just fine. Cooler temps with little to no temp swings is best and 55* is optimal. 1/4 tsp of kmetra at after fermentation should be just fine if you dont bulk age your wine.

 

[McParadigm]

OK. Thanks.

The wife and I end up going through about 3 bottles a week between us, most of the time, so for all I know I'll get far enough ahead that some of these bottles sit for two years or more. I'm hoping that the volume of easily available wine will help encourage some increase in bad behavior (heh), but...like I said...I'm just trying to be proactive in my learning.

 

[rawlus]

you will want roughly 50-60ppm SO2 in your bottled wine, tannic reds can take a bit less, sweet whites may need a bit more. but generally 50-60 is a good general guideline for most wines...
if you will be experimenting with bulk aging and you are not the type to keep detailed notes, then an SO2 test kit of some sort is a good place to start if there is the possibility that the wine will see three or more years of age before consumption.

 

[Wade E]

Do you have a basement?

 

[namratasnv]

you will want roughly 50-60ppm SO2 in your bottled wine, tannic reds can take a bit less, sweet whites may need a bit more. but generally 50-60 is a good general guideline for most wines...
if you will be experimenting with bulk aging and you are not the type to keep detailed notes, then an SO2 test kit of some sort is a good place to start if there is the possibility that the wine will see three or more years of age before consumption.

Hi,

This is what exactly I know and this is what actually requires and it is true that how much ages wine take it gets more and more tastier.


Thanks

 

[NSwiner]

Do you not have room to store the bottles is that why you were leaving them in carboys ? Or is it to age them because you can age them in bottles or carboys . If you use synthetic corks you don't to worry about how they are laid on thier side or standing up what ever way works best for you .

 

[rawlus]

and if you use real cork, you can store them upside down in the case. which is what i do for my overstock that won't fit in the wine fridge or cellar racking.

 

[McParadigm]

No, no, no. They were in carboys because they were still clearing. I'm just planning ahead is all.