4 Week wine kits

Jim - It's pretty hard to give you any sort of specific answer, as there are a lot of kits out there, and "optimum" is going to depend on a lot of factors, including your own taste. In my experience, though, whites are pretty drinkable after a month in the bottle, and reds after maybe three months. These kits are designed to be drinkable pretty quickly, so I don't think you should expect any noticeable improvements after 6 months or so. The wine will change a bit over time (all wines do), but won't necessarily improve. I've had a few bottles that have made it to four years or more -- in most cases, they were past their prime. Still drinkable, but showing their age. I'd recommend consuming these within two years or so. So, I guess I'd put "optimum" somewhere between 3 to 6 months on the low end, and two years on the high end.

Doug

Jim,

Kits vary, by style and by manufacturer. Winexpert doesn't have a recommendation for their 4 week kit (that I could find), but their product guide for one of the 8 week Selection Estate Series includes the following advice regarding aging:

"Ageing: While tempting to drink young immediately on bottling, this wine will only truly begin to display its astonishingly powerful fi nish after one year. Those with the willpower to tuck a few bottles away will be rewarded by a decade of liquid velvet and lush fruit."

And the generic instruction set for all of the 4 week wine kits (and the

"Your wine will benefit greatly from extended ageing in the bottle. Try to wait at least six months before you try your first sample—but a year is better."

My experience with these kits suggests that, marketing hyperbole aside, aging the kits nine or more months does yield a better finished product. In fact, I believe that slowing the entire process down will result in a better wine. I'd rather wait a few more weeks or months for the lees to settle than rush to use a fining agent which may strip out more than just the lees. Your mileage may vary. Do pay heed to the warning in the instructions regarding extended aging, however:

"Winexpert kits contain very low levels of sulphite compared to commercial wine. If you want to age your wine more than 6 months, you must add extra metabisulfite to prevent oxidation."

The same shop which sold you your wine kit should carry potassium metabisulfite priced at a few dollars.

Cheers, Ken

Thank you very Ken and Doug for the information.