I normally let my wine sit in the secondary fermentor (with several
rackings) until about March, then rack into nitrogen charged 54 litre
stainless beer kegs and set aside in my cellar for a year or two to mature.

Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.

Comments are appreciated.

Roger

I believe bottle aging and bulk aging are both important in helping a wine
mature. Because I'm relatively new at this, I have not had a chance to bulk
age as much as I would like to. Usually after 7-9 months of aging in bulk,
I bottle, and then hope the wines age nicely. As soon as I build up my
cellar, I would like to bulk age more (that's a goal). Anyway, I opened a
bottle of raspberry and cherry this weekend. Both should either be at or
very close to their proper age to enjoy. Since I had tried them out about 6
months ago, and they tasted good, I had hopes of improvement. Anyway, the
raspberry seems to have gotten more tart, while the cherry taste seemed to
have diminished. Both improved after sweetening, which made me feel a
little bit better. I don't know that I would replace bulk aging with bottle
aging. Both are important.
Darlene

"Analogueman" > wrote in message
news:Pfs_b.45137$Ff2.37259@clgrps12...
> I normally let my wine sit in the secondary fermentor (with several
> rackings) until about March, then rack into nitrogen charged 54 litre
> stainless beer kegs and set aside in my cellar for a year or two to
mature.
>
> Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
> better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.
>
> Comments are appreciated.
>
> Roger
>
>

It's interesting because I took out "Hugh Johnson's Modern Enclyclopedia of
Wine" from the library and he had some interesting charts of aging and maturity
and how it affected various wines.

He had several charts, eg one for Beujolais, one for Burundy one for bordeau,
all from a particular year. One type of wine for say a particular year would
show a curve indicating fiarily rapid diminshment in quality over a short
period, while anohter shows continue quality growth for a number of years and
then a decline.

Seems to me that not all wines show continous improvement just by aging them.
I have read messages about home made wines aged 20 years that were still good,
and some were aged 2 or 3 years and went downhill quickly.

Oh well, I guess that's why we experiment in the first place. Wine is to be
enjoyed sometimes and if it all works in your favour, so much the better.


>h should either be at or
>very close to their proper age to enjoy. Since I had tried them out about 6
>months ago, and they tasted good, I had hopes of improvement. Anyway, the
>raspberry seems to have gotten more tart, while the cherry taste seemed to
>have diminished. Both improved after sweetening, which made me feel a
>little bit better. I don't know that I would replace bulk aging with bottle
>aging. Both are important.

Thanks everyone.
I see that the question was asked, and dealt with very well, just a few
posts up.
Thanks again.
Roger

"Analogueman" > wrote in message
news:Pfs_b.45137$Ff2.37259@clgrps12...
> I normally let my wine sit in the secondary fermentor (with several
> rackings) until about March, then rack into nitrogen charged 54 litre
> stainless beer kegs and set aside in my cellar for a year or two to
mature.
>
> Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
> better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.
>
> Comments are appreciated.
>
> Roger
>
>

I think at minimum bulk aging is convenient.
Mostly I bottle according to my cellar needs. If I need car boys or DJs for
a new batch then I bottle.
I prefer to bulk age until I have developed the wine as much as possible.
It is a risk but for me bulk aged wines have always improved. Even the acid
levels have improved.

"Analogueman" > wrote in message
news:Pfs_b.45137$Ff2.37259@clgrps12...
> I normally let my wine sit in the secondary fermentor (with several
> rackings) until about March, then rack into nitrogen charged 54 litre
> stainless beer kegs and set aside in my cellar for a year or two to
mature.
>
> Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
> better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.
>
> Comments are appreciated.
>
> Roger
>
>

I have bulked aged in carboys and I think It made the wine smoother.

John

"Joe Ae" > wrote in message
.. .
> I think at minimum bulk aging is convenient.
> Mostly I bottle according to my cellar needs. If I need car boys or DJs
for
> a new batch then I bottle.
> I prefer to bulk age until I have developed the wine as much as possible.
> It is a risk but for me bulk aged wines have always improved. Even the
acid
> levels have improved.
>
> "Analogueman" > wrote in message
> news:Pfs_b.45137$Ff2.37259@clgrps12...
> > I normally let my wine sit in the secondary fermentor (with several
> > rackings) until about March, then rack into nitrogen charged 54 litre
> > stainless beer kegs and set aside in my cellar for a year or two to
> mature.
> >
> > Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
> > better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.
> >
> > Comments are appreciated.
> >
> > Roger
> >
> >
>
>

I've heard that bottle aging can produce a different wine bottle-to-bottle.
How different, I don't know, maybe only a wine expert could notice. Perhaps
this is because the wine can be aging on slightly different "sediments",
which would add different flavours to the wine, whereas in bulk aging it's
all homogeneous?

> > > Recently an experienced fellow at a wine club told me that it would be
> > > better to age wine in bottles rather than large containers.
> > >
> > > Comments are appreciated.
> > >
> > > Roger
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>