Young wine can taste a little yeasty. If you last racked it in november it
is probably a good idea to rack it again now. There is probably some
sedement on the bottome that includes some yeast cells.

How long should it wait. The easy answer is untill it starts tasting good.
For reds I would say that will be at least a year. I often bulk age for 2
years or more, but then I have a large amount in bottle so I do not have to
hurry it. But the basic rule it that when it starts tasting good, start
drinking it. I have never kicked myself for drinking a good wine that could
have been better if aged longer. I have really kicked myself when I age a
good wine too long and it starts declining and I realize that I have 5 or 10
gallons of the stuff and could not posibly drink it all before it is well
past it's prime.

Ray

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi everyone....thanks in advance if anyone can assist me here. I used
> to help my grandfather make wine...he used to make some quality
> zinfandel.....so i thought i would try to make some myself...i
> purchased the juice of five types of grapes....zinfandel, merlot, cab
> sav, barbera and sangiovese......in sept 06...my question concerns
> slowness of fermenting...i tasted the wines today to see how they were
> progressing and all had some yeast taste...some a small amount and
> some quite a bit...the wine cellar is a steadt 62 degrees....the wine
> is stores in 6 gallon carboys w an air lock...sediment was removed
> when i transferred in to the carboys from other carboys back in late
> november 2006
>
> i am willing to be patient as needed, i just do not recall how long he
> waited for his wine to be ready.....he never used any of the tools of
> the day such as hydrometers etc....just oak barrels ( i used chips)
> and then tasted per his own liking. He also never stirred once the
> barrels were sealed. I am following suit.
>
> Does anyone see any see a future for my wines? The previous year I
> made w zin and muscato.....similar situation occured but i still
> bottled at 10 months and the white zin is aging very well and taste
> gets better.......w time.......the muscat seems like it could have
> stayed in the carboy a bit longer as it still seems a little yeasty?
>
> Thank you
>
> AL
>