2nd racking after carboy

[gawine]

so if i rack again from the carboy to another 2nd carboy, this will only help with my wine's clarity? I can let it sit in this 2nd carboy for 2-3 weeks even? and i should use the same bung and airlock as before right. thanks. i'll top off as well with a like wine.

 

[cpfan]

Ummm...yes, yes, yes. or did I need another yes.

BTW, why stop at 2-3 weeks, what's wrong with 2-3 months?

Steve

 

[djrockinsteve]

After the wines clairified and you rack it off you can add some oak and a pinch of P.M. Don't directly reuse your airlock, sanitize it and then reuse it.

Steve's right, don't be rushed. Let it bulk age. 6-12 months you will notice a big difference.

 

[gawine]

wow, really, that long? that's okay with me, fig'd it may go downhill or somehting. I'm fine to bulk age it, i want to make decent wine and as this is my first batch my one fear is turning out something that is just okay.
I guess that's a great reason for more carboys!

i have oak chips in the primary, you put yours in the carboy? my kit is the winexpert trinity red. don't want to overoak it. and that other chemical you mentioned, is that like a sulfite to allow it to age.

is it better to bulk age vs in the bottle..?

thanks!

 

[Wade E]

Lots of people bulk age their wine up to or even more then 1 year in carboys. Lots of us dont even use fining agents to clear our wine and just let time to this for us unless we have a stubborn wine which wont clear on its own. I dont rack my wine once its out of the primary until I have about 3/4" of sediment on the bottom and then I rack off that and dont rack again for about 3 - 4 months after that. Usually by then there is no more sediment falling after that so no reason to rack anymore. Just dont forget to add 1/4 tsp of sulfite every 3 months if you are racking wine.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I only oak after the 2nd racking when my wine has cleared. This is usually 2 months after I started the wine. For my Merlot and other reds I usually add 1 cup of oak chips. (American). I let it age until I'm ready to start my next batch of wine 10 months later. This is when I bottle.

Wine at 2 months is yeasty tasting.
Wine at 1 year is very good.
Wine at 2 years is agonizing to wait for but what a great taste. The wine mellows.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

i agree with wade here. you can't go wrong with a good bulk aging. corks can and will fail. putting a airlock on there tight leaves very little headroom vs volume. also, you might get another racking out of it. finally, it allows the wine to mellow together and this helps create more uniformity amongst bottles in the batch. as long as you don't need the carboy, let it sit. a good year will mean bottling and ready month later to start drinking (for most types of fruit wine, but not cabs/merlot/etc....juice started style as i'm not familiar with kits, such as your "trinity red").

how long does the kit say to age it?

 

[gawine]

Trinity red is a blend of cab sauv, franc and merlot. kit takes 4 weeks total. about 3 weeks in the secondary. age it 3-6 mos per the directions. it does mention to add sulfite if you wish to age it longer.

 

[Dugger]

i agree with wade here. you can't go wrong with a good bulk aging. corks can and will fail. putting a airlock on there tight leaves very little headroom vs volume. also, you might get another racking out of it. finally, it allows the wine to mellow together and this helps create more uniformity amongst bottles in the batch. as long as you don't need the carboy, let it sit. a good year will mean bottling and ready month later to start drinking (for most types of fruit wine, but not cabs/merlot/etc....juice started style as i'm not familiar with kits, such as your "trinity red").

how long does the kit say to age it?

The debate over bulk ageing in the carboy vs in the bottles will go on forever and most of us have heard the pros and cons of each. However, there is another theory out there that promotes bottle ageing as safer than carboys - it basically theorizes that cork surface contact with the bottles is greater than the rubber bung surface contact with the carboy ( due to the tapered sides of the bung) and therefore less likely to fail.
I have little experience bulk ageing in carboys; most of my carboy ageing is about 3-4 months although I did have one go over a year ( with no problems) so I am not promoting one method over the other, just bringing this alternate theory to the attention of those who may not have heard of it. As I say, this debate will continue to go on, and on, and on ...
.. Doug

 

[rawlus]

the primary reason i bulk age is purely space limitations. a carboy takes up alot less room for me than 2.5 cases of bottles.

 

[gawine]

So if you bulk age, then bottle, you can drink it sooner after it's bottled correct? you don't need to age another 3,6, or 12 mos in the bottle as that time has already passed in the carboy?

 

[djrockinsteve]

Trinity red is a blend of cab sauv, franc and merlot. kit takes 4 weeks total. about 3 weeks in the secondary. age it 3-6 mos per the directions. it does mention to add sulfite if you wish to age it longer.

Do you know the percentages of these 3 blended to make Trinity Red?

 

[Dugger]

So if you bulk age, then bottle, you can drink it sooner after it's bottled correct? you don't need to age another 3,6, or 12 mos in the bottle as that time has already passed in the carboy?

Yes, this is correct. Keep in mind, however, that the newly bottled wine will have to recover from being disturbed ( bottle shock) before it is drunk - usually a few weeks.
.. Doug

 

[ssteph2747]

Ah, bottle shock...

A benefit of aging in the bottle is it frees up the carboy for another batch!

 

[vvolf34]

Simply solution if funds allow... Buy more carboys!!