Winter wine!

[Fentos1303]

Hi folks I have been making my own wine through the summer just using grape juices and fruit juices which has been great, i do it at home and had an area where I do fermentation which was 21-25% degrees then once racked I put it in cupboard which was 17-21 % which has been fine, the problem I have now the cupboard has the heating pipes in it therefore is probably warmer now than my other room, my question is now the room I do fermentation in will be anything between 17 and 25 degrees most the time depending on when I get in from work and have hearing on etc, will wine still be ok to make fermenting it in that heat and also leaving in same room once it's racked and stabilised etc? Need help as need my wine through the winter

 

[pjd]

I would move the wine to the fermentation area. I would also insulate those pipes. It will become much too warm in the cupboard with the pipes.

 

[Fentos1303]

What do u mean move to fermentation area, it will already be in the fermentation area that's what I ask can it stay in same room once fermented or does it have to go into a cooler place? Will wine also still ferment ok at 16-24 degrees?

 

[pjd]

Hi folks I have been making my own wine through the summer just using grape juices and fruit juices which has been great, i do it at home and had an area where I do fermentation which was 21-25% degrees then once racked I put it in cupboard which was 17-21 % which has been fine, the problem I have now the cupboard has the heating pipes in it therefore is probably warmer now than my other room, my question is now the room I do fermentation in will be anything between 17 and 25 degrees most the time depending on when I get in from work and have hearing on etc, will wine still be ok to make fermenting it in that heat and also leaving in same room once it's racked and stabilised etc? Need help as need my wine through the winter

You said that you moved it into the cupboard, I said you need to move it out of the cupboard and back to your fermentation area.

Yes you can leave it in the area you are fermenting in.

 

[Fentos1303]

Yeah that's what I was doing in the summer which was fine as cupboard had no heating on thru summer so it was cooler than my fermenting area which was great! Like I say now tho that room will be warmer as heating will be on and off so that's why I asked if I ferment it at temp of 17-25 degrees will it still be ok to rack it and leave it in same place again and will it still be ok?

 

[GreginND]

Yes it should be fine at those temperatures. I think pjd thought your original post was talking about two different areas, the first being the cupboard and the second being a fermentation room with those temps. I thought the same thing reading your post. During aging and storage it is best to try to keep the temperature more stable. Perhaps put the wine as far from the heat as possible and cover it with something to help insulate it. Perhaps a blanket?

 

[Fentos1303]

Yeah maybe with me writing so much I have worded it incorrectly, so to clear it up I can set it away from start at temps from 17-24 degrees then rack it, stabilise etc and leave in same place but maybe cover it with a blanket yeah? Thanks very much for the help

 

[Fentos1303]

Could someone confirm that this will work fine plz?

 

[seth8530]

Yeah, I imagine it should be fine as long as it does not get much above 24 degrees C.. However, if you have a more stable environment that would be better.

 

[Fentos1303]

Basically Seth it's never gunna get higher and when weather changes bit colder room usually goes to 17 degrees at coldest but my main issue was do u have to move it to a cooler place for next stage or can u get away with it just at same temperature once it's racked?

 

[GreginND]

As I said in my post, you should be fine. But having the temp stable is more important than whether it is 24 or 16. After fermentation when you are aging just find the spot in your room where the temperature varies the least throughout the day. Again, even if it does fluctuate some you should be just fine.

 

[seth8530]

Basically Seth it's never gunna get higher and when weather changes bit colder room usually goes to 17 degrees at coldest but my main issue was do u have to move it to a cooler place for next stage or can u get away with it just at same temperature once it's racked?

As I said in my post, you should be fine. But having the temp stable is more important than whether it is 24 or 16. After fermentation when you are aging just find the spot in your room where the temperature varies the least throughout the day. Again, even if it does fluctuate some you should be just fine.

Yep, exactly what Gregin said, either way you should be fine as long as you are not like baking the wine at 33 C or something like that. However, it is preferable to stay cool and stable..