Much improved flavour from bottling

Thanks for the reply.The wine I described had been in a glass demijohn (tightly stoppered with a rubber bung) for three years,and I would have expected it to taste rather good by now.However on immediately pouring out a glass directly from the demijohn,the taste was dull and very disappointing after so much maturation in an inert 5litre vessel.The change after about a week in a corked bottle was nothing less than remarkable.Conventional wisdom suggests,as you do,that on bottling the taste should get worse for a while due to bottle shock.In my case the complete reverse has happened. Michael

Perhaps you introduced a bit of oxygen when you bottled? Steve

I just read a neat article on judging wine and found that 87% of the time judges can't judge the same wine twice in a row and find similar results. So don't feel so bad. You are learning, as we all are. Young wines are hard to judge. I've been making wine for 15 years and I started by testing and tasting everything. Now I can taste when the grapes are ready and I can test for them too. The same is true of what you are doing in your carboys. Live, learn and enjoy. It's a great hobby. Maturation is an art not just a science. Consistent tempature, humidity, vibration in the storage area and laying the bottles on there side after 24 hours are all general rules that will give you good results. Best results? I'm not sure, but by your own admission you are learning. An excellent book on maturation to read is "The Way to Make Wine" by Sheridan Warrick. Sheridan uses meta bi-sulphite to stabilize wine in maturation and to hasten it's maturity.