Hi all,
It's my first effort at making wine (kit form) so bear with me. I'm ready to bottle and the instructions state that if ageing the wine for more than 6 months, to dissolve a campden tablet in the wine before bottling.
I'm going to do this, and give it a good stir in. I was wondering though what is a safe period to wait before bottling after doing this, as a big stir will mean all the sediment is disturbed.
I was thinking about a 24hr delay?
Phil.
Rack it off the lees into a sanitised carboy and then add the CRUSHED campden tablet -- preferably by dissolving it in a little of the wine before you add it to the bulk of the wine. From your question it seems as though you are dealing with a single gallon lot. If it is 5 gallons(imp)/23 litres you need to add more crushed campden before you bulk age -- without worrying about actual SO2 levels -- as a beginner --then add 5 tablets. BTW I would bulk age for 6 months and then bottle anyway!
I agree with Trevor about aging in bulk instead of in individual bottles. The wine will be more consistient and will advance it's age more completely if you let it happen in the larger carboy.
That having been said, properly dissolved campden (or almost any chemical) will, with a stir, become completely dispersed in the liquid in a very short time. If you were to stir it the campden first, then get everything together for bottling (which you won't do, because you're going to bulk age, correct?), the campden will be well dispersed by the time you start filling.
Rob
It's five gallons and it's pretty much ready to be bottled. I want to bottle the lot in one go and let it age in the bottles.
So if I'm understanding correctly, I should rack again to get rid of as much of the sediment as possible. Dissolve the campden in a little amount of the wine, then a gentle stir in will do it.
Get all my bottles sanitised and ready (maybe 1 hour), then start syphoning into the bottles.
Please stop me if I've misunderstood, otherwise thans for the advice!
Regards, Phil.
OK. So you are not going to bulk age, No problem, But next time make 2 batches and after the final racking let one bulk age for at least six months. Bulk aging has the advantage in that the greater volume of wine is more resistant to fluctuating temperature and it is changes in temperature more than the actual storage temperature that is important. Especially if, like me, you have very limited space and not the ideal temperature.. The wine in a bottle is susceptible to very rapid temperature changes. It does make a difference! Another advantage of bulk aging is that there is a HUGE reduction in the "temptation factor" -- it is too easy to look at your wine rack with a corkscrew in hand --------- and your wine will benefit immensely after a period of aging!
Whatever kit you are using, aging makes a LOT of difference -- longer for reds than white. and bulk aging is best!
So you are going to bottle anyway!
Do be careful when racking off the lees this last time --- it is better to leave half a bottle or so behind than to drag the last dregs out of your old carboy. ( what you leave behind can be siphoned off into another small container or bottle and left to settle for a couple of hours -- and is your first taster -- it might still be a tad murky but still drinkable by the new vintner!).
Once you have added the crushed campden tablets solution and stirred it in to the new carboy you can go on with your bottling
I agree with Trevor that bulk aging is a good thing. A suggestion. If you have some gallon jugs, after you rack and add the campden, immediately rack some to your gallon jugs and put them back to bulk age. Then bottle the rest. It does not all have to be bottled at the same time.
Ray
Many many thanks again for all the advice. I'll be back in six months and let you know how it went ;-)
Regards, Phil.
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