Finer Wine Kit Super Tuscan

[wineview]

Last April I made a FWK Super Tuscan. It's been in bulk in glass for nine months and it's time to rack again. Is there any advantage racking into bulk for another three months or would bottling produce the same aging results?

 

[cmason1957]

Bulk aging versus bottle aging, that really is one of those ask 10 winemakers, get 43 opinions. Most of which come down, to here is what I do and it must be correct, since folks like my wine.

So I'll tell you what I might do. To me bulk aging produces a more consistent end-product than bottle aging, although some bottle aging is good to get past bottle shock and let the wine get used to being in a smaller container. There is complex chemistry stuff going on that in bulk, that can't be the same in the bottle for all bottles. I think, unless there is a really, really good reason to, I might not rack at all. (A good reason would be very thick lees) Racking exposes your wine to oxygen, why do that, if there isn't a good reason. I would probably just add K-Meta to the proper dosage based on Ph (or add 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons). and leave it at that. There's mine, hopefully others will give you some to ponder as well.

 

[QuiQuog]

On the other hand, don't factor out peace of mind. This answer isn't really about wine quality but once you get it in the bottles, the job is done. The pack is off your back and sit down for a rest. Also, you can worry less about catastrophic failure like the airlock drying out, unseating, or somehow the whole thing crashing to the ground, or whatever.

 

[wineview]

This would be a fourth racking so I’m sure there isn’t much sediment at this point. I suppose I’ll give it a dose of kmeta and leave it for another three months.

 

[jgmann67]

This is one of those "whatever works for you" questions to me. Personally, I like bottling at 9 months and often wonder if the additional 3-6 months in bulk would create any marked difference. The biggest plus side argument for a long bulk storage is that it keeps you from plowing through your wine that extra 3 to six months, and increasing the likelihood that the wine reaches its peak before you polish off that last bottle.