Why Bulk aging is better?

[keahunter]

I know that bulk aging is supposedly better but can someone tell me why? Why is it better to have it age in a carboy rather than in a bottle? May be a silly question but I was curious.

 

[JohnT]

There a many reasons, but the main reason for me is that I have the option of racking (removing the sediment) BEFORE it goes into the bottle. Once bottled, any sediment that forms in the bottle will be churned up the minute you pour a glass. This makes for a cloudy/gritty glass of wine.

 

[cmason1957]

I am pretty certain that elves come around while my wife is bulk adding and sprinkle tasty goodness into them. But that can only happen if the wine is in a carboy. They can't get through corks.

This question was asked earlier on one of the forums and there were many good, insightful answers. Not like the one above, which is totally and completely offered in jest.

 

[Rocky]

I prefer bulk aging over bottle aging for a couple of reasons:

1. If I need to adjust the wine (e.g. sweeten, add oak, etc.) for any reason during aging, I can do so very easily.
2. I get a more consistent wine from bottle to bottle.
3. If I decide to blend the wine for any reason (it is too thin, it is too thick, too sweet, too dry, etc.) it is easier to do in bulk.

On the downside, if something goes wrong in bulk aging such as oxidation, it is likely "good-bye Charlie" to the whole batch and bulk aging requires more attention. It is not a "set it and forget it" proposition. Weighing the plusses and minuses, I choose bulk aging and resolve to be very attentive.

 

[Elmer]

I may differ from many Or I may differ from few, either way....

Some batches I bulk age and allow for time to remove the sediment.
These tend to be reds, I let nature take its course.

Others I hit with a batch of Sparkalloid, rack, sweeten, and bottle within a week or 2 of racking off of Sparkalloid.
These tend to be the lighter, fruitier wines.

I figure if you use a clearing agent, you have removed the sediment and they can age in a bottle!

 

[Turock]

Bulk aging is important in order to fully degass the wine, have the flavors firm up and come forward, and to clear. Much goes on in a carboy that you can't see happening. Many times people think their wines are clear---then they bottle and have the wines cloud back up under certain storage conditions, including refrigeration. This is because there are hydrogen tartrates, proteins, and potassium in wines that take time to fall free.

Also, when people are sweetening and need to use sorbate, the wine needs to have as many yeast cells as possible racked off the wine for the sorbate to work properly.

Some complex red wines need good bulk aging and then further bottle aging. Once wines are properly bulk aged, they then can be bottled and allow the aging process to continue in the bottle.

 

[jswordy]

Commercial wineries will tell you it is not "better" or even "worse," it is simply one stage of their aging process. Most good wineries will bulk age and bottle age to some degree before release. It's good to bulk age wines if you have the carboy space. Then bottle age after that, if you have the storage.

 

[Arne]

Bulk aging stretches out the testing, tasting time. Nuff said. LOL, Arne..

 

[tonyt]

Unless you have a giant straw to sip the wine out of a 6 gallon carboy you are more likely to have some wine to bottle and drink in a year or so when it starts to get good. Kind of like when people would have the dentist wire their mouth shut so they would stop eating and lose weight. I actually know someone who did that 40 years ago.

 

[keahunter]

Thanks for all the excellent replies...I really appreciate all your insight and experience!

 

[Elmer]

Unless you have a giant straw to sip the wine out of a 6 gallon carboy you are more likely to have some wine to bottle and drink in a year or so when it starts to get good. Kind of like when people would have the dentist wire their mouth shut so they would stop eating and lose weight. I actually know someone who did that 40 years ago.

 

[BernardSmith]

But when you refer to bulk aging do you mean aging fully in carboys until you are ready to drink the wine or for about a year and then you might still age in bottles a while longer. I ask , for example, because I have started to make some meads and it seems that many people suggest that mead needs to be aged for several years. I am not sure I want to tie up a carboy for two or three years if I can bottle after one year and put the bottles aside for another year or two. So when you say bulk age do you mean that you age in the carboy until it is ready to drink or you age in a carboy until you have no concern about sediment dropping out?

 

[Tess]

there is always the other answer lol. I bottle for two reasons. Space and Iv read wine actually ages quicker in the bottle. Not even sure its true. Not to mention when I want a bottle I want a bottle!!

 

[GreginND]

Not to mention when I want a bottle I want a bottle!!

Lol, I can't think of a better reason.

 

[jethro]

Bulk aging is important in order to fully degass the wine, . . .
.
.
.

Is this true --that bulk aging wine in a carboy under airlock degases the CO2 from the wine ?

Or is this only true if the yeast is killed first, with some kind of chemical?

In either case, killing the yeast with an additive or letting them die naturally from starvation, how long does degassing the wine this way take? Months? Years?

 

[Tess]

about 6 months