What date do you put on your bottles?

[grapeman]

Seeing a few labels with 2007 on them got me to thinking about what date everybody puts on their bottles. I usaully put on the date I started the kit, regardless of type.

 

[Bert]

PWP and I use the date bottled....helps to keep track of how long the wine has been in the bottle..

 

[Angell Wine]

Date bottled. Helps keep hands off the stuff.

 

[smurfe]

I use the vintage date. I guess on a fruit wine I would use the date the batch was started but I may switch to bottled date. I just put the year on but after the post that had the date stamper, I may start doing something like that.


Smurfe

 

[masta]

I also use the date bottled.

 

[Fly boy]

Date bottled

 

[NorthernWinos]

Date bottled...

 

[sangwitch]

I don't have a set rule. I'm bottling some in January that will get a 2006 label and I started some this month that will get a 2007 label. I guess I take the time from primary to bottle and whatever year the bulk of the time fell in is the vintage date for me.

 

[kutya]

Date bottled...

 

[OilnH2O]

I first used the date bottled. Then, after starting to bulk age as much as possible, I've used the year the grapes were harvested -- which seems to be more like the commercial outfits and fits the convention of folks who receive any as gifts. All my country wines are still bulk aging, but I imagine I'll do the same with them -- the way some of them taste, they need aging!

I only use the year though -- no more than that.

 

[Dean]

Date started as that is the when the wine was "born".

 

[PolishWineP]

What Bert and Angell Wines said. For those very reasons.

 

[s.arkvinomaker]

Because I bulk age everyone of my wines at least a year, even the fruit
wines, I put the date bottled. When its in the bottle its ready to drink now. They will all look and taste alike. When I first started a year seemed
like a long time and the temptation to open bottles before the aging process was too tempting. My experience has been they taste so much better now because I let them age. I also make a few every month so I always have something new for my friends to try and they look forward to it.

 

[wildridge]

I found out that I have someone locally who retails wine and beer making supplies. He wanted to try a bottle of valpolicella that I recently bottled from a kit, so I gave him a bottle. He told me that I'm supposed to use the date the fruit was harvested and not the date it was bottled.

He never said if he liked the wine or not, just the fact that the date was wrong. I thought it was fairly rude. I'm more concerned about what's in the bottle, which is great if you ask me.

Seeing as how I'm not a winery and only trying to please my own taste, I think it should be okay to put whatever date I choose. As long as it's relevant to me, that's all that matters. So, my vote is the date it's bottled.

I believe in using local small businesses whenever possible, but in this case George is da man. He's always been polite and helpful.

 

[Miss Rocky]

None of the above. We put the date the wine has finished and put into aging stage, wether it is in a carboy or bottled.

 

[Coaster]

I use the year only from the year the wine finished fermenting on the label. My log shows month and year it finished fermenting.


When I buy a commercial wine I know it was fermented in the fall or the spring depending on origin but with mine I make them all year long so I've considered adding the month to the label too. For me, I want to know how old it is for comparison.