WINE AGING SUPPORT GROUP

[rodman]

I will join the group, I need help. I started this habbit ahhhh hobby last Dec. My first batch is gone, second batch is gone, third batch 2 bottles left, fourth batch3 bottles left,and thefifth batch9 bottles left. I currently have 4 carboys bulk ageing. However I find myself spending eveningsin my dark basement on the edge of mychair rocking back and forthstarring at the carboys sucking on the side of my wine glass in anticipation. I'm about to breakdown I think I'mgoing to bottle the Black Currant this weekend, it's been in the Carboy for 3 months.

 

[Waldo]

Comon rodman, hold out..give that Currant another 6 months at least. You can do it !!!!
I just bottled a batchof Black Currant/Campbells Early Grapethat has been bulk aging since 12/23/06. It was worth the wait.

Edited by: Waldo

 

[Jack on Rainy]

NW,

You sure hit a sore thread with this one. 20 some posts in three days!!



It sounds like a support group was needed! I wonder if we can get a grant?



I listened to all of our wise moderators and have been pretty
restrained. My oldest is white, 9 months, and it is ready to drink so
I've opened two bottles. Since I don't normally drink white in the
winter, I thought it would be easy to let them age but the trouble is,
I LIKE drinking my own home brew. So I ordered another couple of white
kits so I've got whites for next winter.



The reds are going to get more time though, the tasting we've done so
far says "WAIT". Our oldest, WE Lodi Zin, is 9 months and is nowhere
close to being good yet.


Edited by: Jack on Rainy

 

[grapeman]

Come on rodman, you can do it!You better speed up production though, it sounds like you are consuming faster than you are replacing.


And Waldo spare the "rodman" and spoil the child!

Edited by: appleman

 

[NorthernWinos]

Tonight we are 'sampling' two varieties that were bottled Dec. '06...I feel so good about myself.


But...there are some batches since then that are almost completely gone....or totally gone....

They were so good.


We have a few bottles that a over 2 years old...those we break out on occasions....


Seems the more wines you make....the more you can kind of age...at least some of them.....


When I break open a case that has only been laid down for 6 months....well...I feel like a kid in the candy jar....I kind of look over my shoulder.....but I don't care!

 

[joeswine]

me thinks after hearing all this I need a drink!

 

[PolishWineP]

Yes, and Northern and Jobe said, wine does get stored in bedrooms! Nothing tacky about it at all. We have 2 carboys in the office, a batch of beer in the office, 3 carboys in the guest room, (It's cold in there right now) and of course, there's the family room for aging and then the wine cellar. We have some wine in a rack in the living room, and empty bottles on the kitchen counter. There's primaries in the laundry area along with a few carboys. The only place we don't have wine or wine gadgets is the bathrooms and our bedroom. There's probably a wine book or 2 on a night stand. We do have a few bottles of rhubarb wine that was started April of 04. I think that is a record for us aging wines. The longer we make wine, the better we are at aging it. But bulk aging is the key for us.

 

[Wade E]

I have been spending quite a few bucks lately on commercial red as I started this hobby not liking reds to much and not prefer reds over everything. I have at least 2 bottles of every wine I have made to date and my wine room is full to the point where I have to expand but really nowhere to expand to as the wife will shoot me if I even think of extending my wine making as i already have taken up 2/3 of the basement that we spent $6000.00 on having waterproofed + finishing those 2 rooms! wine making area , 1 wine cellar).

 

[joeswine]

rodman,did you make it throught the night?I laught so hard when I read that I could picture it all in mine I think I did it myself thats why,at least I think I didn ,I'am not sure ,don't seam to recall,OH yah now I remember,

 

[rodman]

Thanks to all of you and that Chardonnay that needed racked from the primary I made it through the night. I think this support group thing may work out.

 

[hannabarn]

I, too have had a hard time keeping any wine on hand. I hide it but my memory is still good and my willpower is weak. However, now I am going to put some away for #80 and 85. If I'm still arouind at 85 I'll put some away for 90!!

 

[uavwmn]

Be strong Rodman!!! If you need a security guard for that wine, shoot me an email. I will be glad to help. tee hee

 

[uavwmn]

Waldo, nice labels there.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Feeling pretty proud....

......have 17 cases of wine laid on their sides....aging....

[5 cases are under the bed...

]


Next month some cases are going to have a birthday.....Wonder how we should celebrate that day...?

 

[K&GB]

Northern,
You're an inspiration to all us fledgling home winemakers who can't wait to enjoy the fruits of our labor. I'm trying to keep mine in the carboys cause ifI had a stash like that in my house,those boxes would be empty in no time!

Hmmmm, come to think of it... all I see are boxes. Are you surethere are really any bottles of wine in those boxes?

Knowing me, I would have to check... daily!

And then I'd start to wonder.... how's the wine tasting? One thing would lead to another....

 

[NorthernWinos]

They are full and sealed....at least they were the last time I checked...?


I figure if you make enough wine to drink and put 12 away from each batch....one should gain on the inventory.


I am going to open 3 boxes soon...Vintners Harvest Black Currant/Red Grape [know that one is good] VH Blackberry/Red Grape and a box of Crabapple/Apple....."Happy Birthday to them" Chug-a-lug.

 

[Poacher]

AGED WINE?!?! What is this thing you speak of???

 

[PolishWineP]

Don't dispair that you have not yet heard of this. It is an old myth, story only, passed down from generation to generation. Some of usare trying it as an experiment to see what happens if you actually age a wine.

But it's just in the experimental stages right now. We promise to pass along any knowledge we acquire from this testing. Edited by: PolishWineP

 

[pelican]

In an effort to ensure that my fruit wines get some aging time, I bought a kit wine to make that the marketing blurbage says is drinkable young and ages fast -- If I start it right after my upcoming trip out of town, (or just as I leave??) it should be ready to bottle by Easter and drink to toast the breaking of ground for this year's garden. Meanwhile I'm just keeping going starting new 1 gallon batches of assorted fruit wines to look forward to next winter -- I'll be lucky to put away 1 bottle each to age for longer than that, but by then I should have more to drink too soon. MAKE MORE WINE is the only way I can see to have any to age!

Meanwhile I do have a "storage shed" in the yard that already has a "basement" (LOL, tell the city inspector it's the plumbing shed, now that we have indoor plumbing

) -- if I make a lot more wine, I may need to convince the resident plumber to retrofit the structure as a "wine cellar"...

 

[Lloyd1]

Feeling pretty proud....

......have 17 cases of wine laid on their sides....aging....

[5 cases are under the bed...

]


Next month some cases are going to have a birthday.....Wonder how we should celebrate that day...?

"Storing Wine
<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />Optimum conditions for storing wine include stable temperatures around 55°, humidity of approximately 80% ....... "


So, isn't it a bit cool in the bedroom?
I sure hope it's a 'spare' bedroom, and not the one you sleep in every night.
I mean you do keep the temp a constant 55°, right?