What year you usually put on a label? When wine was bottled or when primary fermentation was started? I have some capsicumel which I started fermenting in the fall of 2003 and now, after 2 years and half is finally ready for bottling! You have to be really patient with those meads. Tee
-- Verba volant, scripta manent.
Put both.
We just had this discussion. Here you go.
Rule of Thumb:
Put the year the "fruit" was harvested, or if you don't know (i.e. if you get frozen ingredients or such) then the year you began fermentation.
If you wish, simply put a "bottled on" date as well...
I personally feel it is more important to know how old the wine is, much more so than when it was bottled...but certainly that may not be how you feel, so do whichever makes more sense to you...
Just to add an example (someone correct me if I'm mistaken):
Amarone will show the year the grapes were harvested, even though they are air-dried for several months before fermentation begins, often into the next calendar year...
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