young wine?

[matese09]

I bought the juice already crushed and pressed and it came in 6 gallon buckets. Its a Cabernet. Its been fermenting since late Oct early Nov. Its in a demijohn now with a air lock on it. Seems like its still very young and kinda still tastes like grape juice. It has been pretty cold since the begining (im in the north east), its been in the garage since day one. Any ideas? Should it be moved to a warmer spot? basement? should it be bottled and aged?

thanks for the help

 

[sly22guy]

Well it depends, is the wine finished? Have you racked it? is it clear? Degassed?
What was the starting SG & what is the current SG.

If the wine is finished and your just bulk aging it then id leave it out where you have it. Most Reds are aged 1-1.5 years. So yes it is still a very young wine.

If it is not finished then def bring it in and get the temp up closer to 70-75. It is much easier to clear & degas when its warmer. If it is not properly degassed and you bottle it and bring it into warmer temps you could have explosive bottles!

 

[matese09]

It never really bubbled that much from the beginning. I've racked it twice and its pretty clear, very little sediment. It seems pretty degassed.

 

[robie]

By now it surely shouldn't taste like grape juice.
Do you have a hydrometer? You need to measure the wine's SG to determine where it is in the process. It is likely very much finished fermenting, or it stopped early... Sounds like you already racked it off its gross lees, which is good, considering its age.

Give us some more details as to what you have done - Degas, stabilize, clear, ..etc.

I would not go any further until you check the SG and let us know what it is.