bulk aging?

[td1166]

After reading many posts i noticed many people leave their wines in the carboy for quite sometime after the primary fermentation. I made a white wine kit about two months ago and followed the instructions exactly which led me to bottling about 1 month after i began the process. Im about to begin my next batch which will be another kit, a barolo this time. Is there a benefit to me leaving the wine in the carboy for several months prior to bottling?


The help is always appreciated!
-Tony

 

[Rocky]

Tony, bulk aging, or for that matter, any aging is generally more important for red wines than white. Persaonlly, I like to keep my whites in a carboy for 3-6 months and reds from 9-12 months. Barolo is a wine that benefits greatly from aging. As a matter of fact, in Italy the wine has to be aged for at least 3 years (of which 2 must be in oak and 1 in the bottle) before release in order to qualify for the DOCG designation.

Some of the benefits of bulk aging are greater consistency in the batch, ease in making additions or corrections in the wine and less effect from temperature and humidity swings.

 

[td1166]

Thank you Rocky, appreciate the quick response. Looks like ill be keeping it in the carboy for quite some time!

 

[JohnT]

Everything I do is bulk aged (in SS tanks or 54 demis) for at least 18 months. I agree with rocky in that is more beneficial to reds than whites, however, it is not to say that my white wines do not benefit at all.

For whites, it really depends on the type of white wine you are dealing with. If you are dealing with a chardonnay, for example, that is rather high in tannins compared to most other whites, and is also a good candidate for oaking, then bulk aging (IMHO) is defintely the way to go.

All wines do benefit from bulk aging in that degassing is not really a concern. The wine seems to degass just fine on its own over time. Additionally, you will find that you might not need any clarifing agents when you bulk age. I never need clarify and find that the wine is crystal clear on it own, provided you perfrom the appropriate rackings.

 

[TonyP]

After reading many posts i noticed many people leave their wines in the carboy for quite sometime after the primary fermentation. I made a white wine kit about two months ago and followed the instructions exactly which led me to bottling about 1 month after i began the process. Im about to begin my next batch which will be another kit, a barolo this time. Is there a benefit to me leaving the wine in the carboy for several months prior to bottling?


The help is always appreciated!
-Tony

Always good to see fellow Tonys.

Keep in mind two things about kit instructions for aging: 1) they assume wine makers are first times so they show minimums and 2) if instructions said to age 2 years they wouldn't sell as many kits. With that said, aging benefits wine and your question is on carboy (bulk) or bottle aging.

To a large extent, bulk versus bottle aging is a matter of personal preference. I'm confident most wine makers believe, however, that bulk aging is at least as good as bottle and perhaps better. (I think only a small number believe bottle aging to be superior.) Bulk aging allows the wine to degas and clarify properly, permits you to more easily make corrections if a problem is encountered, and bulk wine is less influenced by environmental factors. Having said all that, sealing issues could be disastrous to bulk aged wine and should be monitored.

Tony P.

 

[JohnT]

I hear ya Tonyp,

However, if you go with bottle aging, any sediment is trapped in the bottle. Bulk aging allow for more sediment to settle out and be racked off prior to bottling.

 

[Tom_S]

Always good to see fellow Tonys.
Having said all that, sealing issues could be disastrous to bulk aged wine and should be monitored.

This. I just poured out two 5 gallon batches after I found that the airlocks had gone low enough to allow the wine to become oxidized. Make sure you check the airlock levels every so often.