Aging? Does it matter that much?

[Jacktar]

I'm pretty new to wine. Last June I brewed a cellar craft showcase Australian Shiraz kit. It was expensive and I committed to a year of aging before I intend to drink it. This is my first premium kit,but I've actually brewed a couple more since.

In 2 weeks I'll be on vacation and my wine will be 9 months old so I'm going to try a bottle as a treat. What should I expect? Will this taste like "home brewed" wine? I'm happy to say that my beer tastes like craft brew, but I'm not sure if my wine will ever be on par with what we buy in the store.

Will another 3 months make a difference? What would the difference be in that wine with a second year of aging? I know it's going to be better, but how much better?

 

[ibglowin]

Wine making is NOT beer making. You want something that peaks at 3 weeks…….. make BEER!

Wine takes 2 YEARS to get really good. Patience, patience, patience or stick to BEER!

 

[sour_grapes]

But, to answer your question about what to expect with 9 month old wine: I predict it will taste pleasant enough, but lacking something and a bit harsh. It may have KT (kit taste), which is a hard-to-describe, slightly chemical tang. It will almost certainly be a bit harsher than commercial wine, with a bit of an off flavor, perhaps a bit bitter. It may improve if you let it air out and breathe for a day.

 

[Jacktar]

Wine takes 2 YEARS to get really good. Patience, patience, patience or stick to BEER!

I've waited 9 months. That shows some patience doesn't ?

I'm willing to wait, but I'm wondering how good the payoff is going to be. Will the wine really be that good. I'm afraid I'll wait the entire two years and it won't really be that much better than it is now. Will the difference really be that profound?

And since the 30 bottles from the first batch won't last 2 years, I have to keep brewing to keep the pipeline going. That's a heavy upfront investment of time, effort and money. I'm hoping the product will be high quality.

 

[Olbuscap]

Go ahead, pop that cork. Enjoy. Take notes. Then, promise that you will wait another 3 months before you enjoy the next bottle. Do this every three months. At the two year mark you will still have two dozen bottles remaining to enjoy whenever you wish. And yes, keep those fermentations going!

 

[Millzy64]

I made a Lodi Old Vine Zin about 5 years ago from a CC kit. It tasted pretty good right at bottling. Nothing special, but drinkable. I stowed a couple bottles away and opened one of them recently and it tasted completely different. It was amazing how much better it was after a few years of aging. I agree with drinking some now, but keeping some tucked away. If you keep making more, you'll always have a supply. That's the great thing about kits. You can make wine all year and always have a batch going while waiting for grape season.

 

[DoctorCAD]

At 9 months, it should be good, not great. Don't be dissapointed, in 9 more months, it will approach great.

I just drank my next-to-last bottle of a 2010 Cab Franc/Merlot from a priemium kit. It was fantastic. Now I wish I would have waited on the other 28 bottles that got consumed!

 

[Boatboy24]

In my experience most kit wines are good at 9-12 months - barrel aging for 3 months really helps this along. But, there is a big difference from 1 to 2 years of age.

 

[heatherd]

Waiting 9 months is excellent! Congrats on that. It is really hard in the first year, when you don't have lots of wine sitting around that's ready to drink and you've invested time and money.

I bet you'll be really pleased with the wine at nine months, especially since you made a nice one.

Agree, though, that the wine goes through a development curve where it gets substantially better over the first and second years. We'll see - I don't have many bottles left from two years ago!

Heather

 

[dralarms]

I drank a bunch of "green" wine my first year. I had one white that was good at 6 months, better at 9, at 12 I was questioning who snuck in and replaced my wine. When I opened the last bottle at 24 months all I could think is I've got to make more of this (now which recipe did I use). Trust everyone that tells you it will get better. Now I'd open a bottle now and try it, be sure and make notes that way in another 15 you can see just how much it improves.

 

[kevinlfifer]

Here is my testimony to waiting

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f84/virtue-waiting-vs-kit-taste-48974/

This example is one of many to found here.

I have a juice bucket Cal. Syrah bottled in Nov. We are already drinking it and it is very nice. I'll save a case for the 18 mo mark.

I cant seem to make enough to get 1-2 years in front of it.

 

[Thig]

Try it and see, if it is good drink it now, if not give it some time and try again. I had a fruit wine that was terrible at 18 months but really good at 24. You just never know.

 

[Jacktar]

Thanks folks. I feel as if you guys have recharged batteries. I'm going to try the wine at the start of my vacation and then I'll do the "once every 3 months" plan. It sounds as if it'll be worth the wait to get to the 2 year mark.

 

[GaDawg]

Jack, get some 350 or 175 ml bottles to use for sample bottles. You can try one on say a 3 mo. Schedule to see how your wine progresses.

 

[Boatboy24]

I do as @GaDawg does. A 6 gallon batch will get me 30 bottles. I have two full cases that get 'hidden away'. That leaves me with 6 bottles. I'll usually do 4 or 6 splits (375ml) and 3-4 750ml bottles that go immediately on the rack. I'll try one a month or so to see how they're progressing. By the time I get through those, the batch is 12-18 months old (or more) and I still have 2 full cases left.

 

[calvin]

As a beginner it's really hard to age your wine. I suggest making more wine than you consume. That way your guaranteed to age some a little. Congratulations on aging your first batch 9 months! My first few kits were gone before 6. I've been at this over a year now and my oldest wine is only 8 or 9 months. Only a few bottles left

 

[Jacktar]

The idea of the small test bottles is also very good. That sample bottle I want to open could easily be separated into 3. Nice way to see the progress without sacrificing too much young wine.

 

[sampvt]

Im making it all now hand over fist so mission control cant drink it all so some might survive over a year. Having none with a case aging is too much temptation so the best idea is to make 200 bottles over the next month and she will either kill herself drinking it or I might get a great aged drink next year, both win win situations, lol

 

[Floandgary]

As with any business, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend a little more at the onset. Get the inventory built up early and you can progress with the aging much easier. I've found out that you can consume your stock more quickly than you could have ever imagined