Qestion about bulk aging wine kits?

Good question. And you'll get several responses. My experience (I've done over 14 kits) - and just mine - is that bulk aging "Kits" isn't worth it. The kit was made to get it to bottle in the recipe and timeline. When I did try to bulk age - and added 1/4 teaspoon Meta, as suggested, I had poor results. One was so oxidized I contacted WinExperts and they reviewed what I had done and said "they don't recommend bulk aging their kits".

So what I learned is: follow the instructions to bottle time, they want you successful, so you will buy more kits. If I want to really let it get better, let it bottle age for all the time they recommend. This Pinot Gris I am finishing next week to bottle says to age for 3 months, but 6-12 months is better. So I will age for 6-12. I am also told, but no experience - is that kit wines do not age well for 5-10 years, rather should be drank within a few years.

Making wines from juice and fruits via recipe is totally a different world in my experience. But I am anxious to hear others.

DAve

p.s. wish I had a s> Hi, I've been making 6 gallon "KIT" wine for a year and a half. I've

The general consenus on kit wines is that their is little difference between the results of carboy aging & bottle aging. It will get better over time as Dave said, just doesn't matter carboy or bottle.

Having said that, the most important attribute of a good winemaker is PATIENCE. Cutting short a holiday in order to bottle wine is (excuse my comment) STUPID. Yes the instructions say to bottle in 28 or 42 or whatever days, but bottling in 35 or 55 or 85 days is no big deal.

Last year we started a good Shiraz kit in Feb or March and bottled in November. It is a VERY NICE wine. A couple of people that we have shared it with, have made the exact kit. One actually just started their second one.

I suggest, racking off sediment about 2 weeks after adding the clearing. Then bottle at your leisure. Check the air-lock regularly.

Steve

Jack Keller has instructions for an extended process for making wine from kits. Take a look and see if this might yield what you want.

It's been a while since I read Jack's extended instructions closely. As I recall, the majority of it was fine. There are a couple of points I'm unsure of, such as the extra tannin at the start.

There are a couple of points that I would change. One is the bentonite. I would follow the kit's instructions on bentonite, and not Jack's. There are a large number of different bentonites, and the kit manufacturer should know what is best for the bentonite in their kit.

The biggest problem with Jack's instructions (IMHO) is that they are generic, and not specific to any particular brand. I'm not sure that all of his comments (eg the tannin) will apply to every kit.

Steve

Ouch Steve, I don't know about stupid...

I did read Jack Keller's page and this isn't what I needed to know.

Actually, you and Dave answered my question. No, bulk aging wine kits doesn't make them better and NO! being super anal about the exact bottling date isn't necessary.

I am off to the store to get a Cabernet kit, and I did read on other posts that better kits make better wine. Thanks for your help.

Susan

Yes Susan, as a general rule the better kits (larger box size, more money) make a better wine. Of course, your tastes may vary. For example, these days there's a lot of discussion about oaked and unoaked chardonnays. If you like unoaked chardonnay, leaving the oak out of a kit designed to be oaked may not be your cup of chardonnay.

Good luck with the Cabernet.

Steve

I would like to say that, personally, I would like to keep the use of the word "stupid" out of this group. I don't think its a nice word, and, happily, I am confident I speak for the vast majority of users of this forum. I feel quite strongly about it. Personal opinion.

Sean

This is a very civil group, yes.

As to the OP, aging in carboys should be slower in general. there is no need to rush the process, whether it's a kit, juice or came from grapes the basic ingredients are all similar. The major problem with aging is preventing oxidation. That is pretty easy to do. Keep the sulfite levels normal, keep the container well sealed and keep it topped to 1/2 " are all that i do and have bulk aged wines for 2 years. I have a kit chardonnay in bulk aging for at least 9 months now and am about to bottle it. (I realize Dave had an issue but that may have been an aberration.)

If you want a rule of thumb for sulfite additions add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon K meta per 5 gallons wine each rack. I prepare the carboy, add the sulfite to a little water and dump it in the carboy while I get the rest of my racking stuff ready, then I rack into it without splashing. I only splash on the first rack. f

2 buck Chuck should be pretty easy to duplicate with kits; aging is more of an option than necessity if that is where you want to end up. It's not bad wine but you can do better (even with cheap kits) if you keep good notes. You may find the reds are better with more oak if he likes it that way. If you want to experiment bottle most of it the way you want and keep a gallon back in a gallon jug, adding oak to that in some measured amount. Let that age a month or so and bottle it, see which he likes more.

Joe

Hi gang!

I'd just like to say that I think winemakers have a great sense of humor and feel that this was the post's intention.

Okay, I'd like to get my Dad off the two buck-chuck, but the wine kit I bought is "Vintners Reserve - Cabernet Sauvignon." The guy at the store tells me that I should age this in the bottle for at least a year, before drinking. Well, I guess Dad's going to be two-bucking for a bit longer.

I am now at the degassing stage, it's quite foamy. I have the drill attachment, but I always feel I'm causing the foam with the motion?!? I'm going to search for more info on this subject.

Thank you all for your advise. Susan

Yes, your poor Dad will have to look at your wonderful bottles of wine for a while. Though I did this kit once, and it was very nice in 6 months.

Drill degasser - the instructions when hand stirring says "stir vigorously for 2 minutes" and "if you don't do this right the wine will not clear" and scary things like that. What is vigorous? I tried this a few times and got blisters so went and bought a drill attachment.

I use a Drill attachment also - I have a 19volt cordless and put it on high and then stir one direction until the wine is spinning and then hit reverse and do it again until the wine is a tornado in the carboy. I do this over and over for about 1 minute. Then I rest (snicker) and the 2 inches of foam slowly settles. After 5 minutes, I repeat the above. This time much less foam. Then I consider it done.

I just did this to my Zinfandel kit and it's in the last 28 days of clearing.

Good luck. Let us know if Dad likes this better than Charles' 2Buck! I'm guessing he'll think he has a $20 bottle of wine and much enjoy it.

DAve

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reading from Wine Experts 2007/2008 Catalog Aging Periods for Vintners Reserve (Reds- Minimum 2 months, Maximum 1 year)(Whites - Min. 1 month, Max 1 year).

Brian

Susan:

A lot of people are very happy drinking the wine from that kit much younger than 1 year. In fact, the Ferment on Premises business has a term for it..."trunk aging". Customers bottle in the store, load the bottles into the trunk, and its magically aged when it reaches their house.

Don't get me wrong, the wine will be much better in 3..6...9...12 months. So get your Dad to try after a month in bottle, and see what he thinks. After all we all have different tastes.

Degassing...the winemakers biggest problem. Many days I think that we are making more work for ourselves. I spend much more time degassing than I did 5 years ago, and I don't think there is any difference in the result. I don't remember the wine being gassy back then and it isn't now.

At least one kit company (Vineco) does not recommend the use of drill mounted stiirers because people stir too hard and whip air into the wine thus using up the free SO2 and shortening the wine's shelf life.

I do NOT have a good answer to "how to degas" question. And in my opinion neither does anybody else.

Steve

Well, I spent two days trying to degass my Cab., finally I emailed winexpert and this was their very fast response.:

"Thank you for your contact and for choosing our products. You only stir the wine vigorously - the one time - the one day - stabilizing day. It probably wasn't gas you were observing, after that amount of stirring: it was more likely bubbles from the stirring. A good way to check gas levels in a wine is to fill a hydrometer tube half-way with the wine, plug the end with a #6.5 bung (or your hand), shake it hard, and open the top. If it 'pops', then it's gassy. If not, then it's flat. "

So, good lesson for me! I didn't try the hydrometer-tube thing, I just quit whipping, topped up and later this week we'll see if it's bottling time. Hope this helps others out there. Let me know if anyone does the hydrometer-tube-shakey thing.