Age in darkness?

[opalburn]

My mulberry/grape blend had finished fermenting and I am planning on bulk aging for at least 6 months before bottling. I have it on the counter in my upstairs bath room, which has a lot of ambient light throughout the day.

Should I be aging the wine in a dark area of the house? Will the light hurt it in any way?

Thanks for any help. Btw it tastes pretty fantastic for my first effort. I fermented it pretty dry and didn't feel like I needed to back sweeten at all. It's real light and doesn't have a lot of body to it, which some more experienced wine people might not enjoy, but I think this is a good introduction for me personally. I will also be starting some skeeter pee after the first racking in December. So that will be ready by spring. Can't wait!!!

 

[CBell]

Light is bad for wine, especially the ultraviolet light of the sun. Can cause clarity issues, off-tastes, and smells. See link for source (http://skspolytech.com/assets/effect_of_ultraviolet_light_on_wine_quality.pdf)

Best solution for bulk aging if you want to keep it in current location is to get a cheap hoodie or towel and cover or wrap your carboy. I keep mine with a hoodie over the top, the hood up over the airlock, and the arms tied around it. Sometimes I walk into the basement and am scared hoodlums have broken in when I see 5 waist level carboys with hoodies.

 

[Bartman]

The ordinary glass in your windows blocks a lot of UV radiation from sunlight, and newer lowE glass blocks even more. I'm not sure what type of UV radiation has the most impact on wine, but I am less concerned about that particular issue/risk than I used to be.

 

[Bartman]

Light is bad for wine, especially the ultraviolet light of the sun. Can cause clarity issues, off-tastes, and smells. See link for source (http://skspolytech.com/assets/effect_of_ultraviolet_light_on_wine_quality.pdf)

That's an interesting article/study you posted. Lots of good info about glass used in wine bottles. I am always skeptical if it has any bias being done for/by industry sources - presumably not, but I trust no one these days.

 

[spaniel]

I used to make wine in a basement, where it was dark enough most of the time. Now I age my wine in a room where a lot of sunlight comes in. I tape the flaps on the carboy boxes up (so that they sit taller, to accomodate the airlock) and just invert the boxes over the carboys.

 

[jethro]

I use spaniel's idea too-cardboard boxes, flaps out and taped, inverted over the carboys.