# Wine Shelf Life



## mrzazz (Oct 16, 2010)

A friend of mine asked me how long would a fruit wine last? I told him it does get better with age. So how long of a shelf life does fruit wine have? I know grape wines have a longer shelf life? Correct?


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## Tom (Oct 16, 2010)

Fruit wines will not last as long as red wines. I would say 3-4 years TOPS! Fruit wines are low in alcohol and do not have the body of a big red.
fruit wines are made for early drinking.


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## JohnT (Oct 18, 2010)

Tom said:


> Fruit wines will not last as long as red wines. I would say 3-4 years TOPS! Fruit wines are low in alcohol and do not have the body of a big red.
> fruit wines are made for early drinking.



To aree with tom and expand a bit more.. 

It really depends on the fruit. If it is a particularly tannic wine, and the acid level is at the correct range, then a fruit wine should have some longevity.


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## PPBart (Oct 18, 2010)

A few months ago I had to empty and move a storage rack (as part of a general rearrangement of that room). 

When I moved the rack away from the wall, I was surprised to find lying on the floor behind it a 375-ml bottle of pear wine that I bottled in 2004. Obviously, the bottle had somehow slipped out of a lower level of the rack and fallen to the floor without breaking and without being noticed. 

The wine looked perfectly clear, the cork was solid, no evidence of seeping. I finally could stand it no longer and pulled the cork -- pure vinegar!


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## pwrose (Oct 18, 2010)

I know I have a chokecherry wine that will need at least 3 years before it is even palatable. That said most fruit wines start downhill after 2-3 years, that is not to say they are bad but they are on the down swing.


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## winemaker_3352 (Oct 18, 2010)

This also depends on storage - how you are storing your wine, what temps/humididty.

Wine stored at 65-70 degree's - just a bsmt - will not last as long as a wine stored at 55 degree's.


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