Calculation of aging dates

[Tipsy]

So I was just calculating how much wine I have and when its ready to drink and I just wondered how everyone calculates aging time. I have been calculating it from day 1, when I made it, so if I want to age it 18 months I start from that date, but I wonder if that is the way most of you look at it. Could also calculate from day its ready to bottle according to the kit, so for an 8 week kit that would add 2 months. I know it wont make much difference but just curious how the rest of you look at it.

 

[Rembee]

Day 1 for me is bottling day. IMHO, the wine is not finished until you cork it up. In bulk storage it's still taking on flavors such as backsweetening, oaking or maybe some spices. So once I perform the final rack and bottle it, that's my day 1.

 

[cmason1957]

I go with Day 1 is the day I pitch the yeast, that's when it officially becomes wine. Before that it is must.

 

[my wine]

There are 3 stages of wine making ... fermentation, aging and digestion. Digestion is the most important! (I've been waiting for a reason to use that one.)

This is a good question and I wondered the same at one time. So I looked up the definition online. Dr. Murli with a long last name from Iowa State says the 3 stages are fermentation, maturation and aging which starts at bottling. "The term wine 'maturation' refers to changes in wine after fermentation and before bottling. During this period, the wine is subjected to various treatments, such as malolactic fermentation, clarification, stabilization, and bulk storage."

Then it seems mostly everyone else in the world, including me, refers to aging and not maturation. Too many references online to list here. Grouping all kit instructions together, they have a fermentation period followed by a "2 or more weeks clarification and stabilization period". Then you bottle or "bulk age" (another term found in kit instructions). So, since I mostly make kits, I once thought aging starts after clarification and stabilizing. However, many on this forum clarify over a longer period of time and without fining agents. So there goes the finite clarification and stabilization period out the window.

I now use fermentation, aging and digestion. Fermentation starts when I pitch the yeast and stops when it stops on its own or when I stop it. And when fermentation stops, aging starts. As you said, the exact dates you use won't make much difference.

HOWEVER, the digestion phase is very, very important and one should approach it with the great seriousness it rightfully deserves!! (I've been waiting to use that one too.)

 

[sour_grapes]

I personally start counting from the end of alcoholic fermentation, i.e., starting when I consider the wine is in "bulk aging."

 

[Tipsy]

There are 3 stages of wine making ... fermentation, aging and digestion. Digestion is the most important! (I've been waiting for a reason to use that one.)

This is a good question and I wondered the same at one time. So I looked up the definition online. Dr. Murli with a long last name from Iowa State says the 3 stages are fermentation, maturation and aging which starts at bottling. "The term wine 'maturation' refers to changes in wine after fermentation and before bottling. During this period, the wine is subjected to various treatments, such as malolactic fermentation, clarification, stabilization, and bulk storage."

Then it seems mostly everyone else in the world, including me, refers to aging and not maturation. Too many references online to list here. Grouping all kit instructions together, they have a fermentation period followed by a "2 or more weeks clarification and stabilization period". Then you bottle or "bulk age" (another term found in kit instructions). So, since I mostly make kits, I once thought aging starts after clarification and stabilizing. However, many on this forum clarify over a longer period of time and without fining agents. So there goes the finite clarification and stabilization period out the window.

I now use fermentation, aging and digestion. Fermentation starts when I pitch the yeast and stops when it stops on its own or when I stop it. And when fermentation stops, aging starts. As you said, the exact dates you use won't make much difference.

HOWEVER, the digestion phase is very, very important and one should approach it with the great seriousness it rightfully deserves!! (I've been waiting to use that one too.)

The Digestion stage is my favorite stage. Just sayin.

 

[bstnh1]

I start counting from the day the wine is done - i.e., for a 6 week kit it's at the end of 6 weeks whether it goes in the bottle then or sits in the carboy for a period of time. But as you said, whether you say it's aged 18 months or 24 months really won't make a lot of difference.

 

[Rice_Guy]

From a process point the cleaning starts when fermentation is done. I can manipulate fermentation as running a plug flow reactor and never start ageing.

 

[JustJoe]

Just for clarification, a wine made with grapes grown in 2018 is a 2018 wine even if it not fermented until 2019 and bottled last week. Right??

 

[cmason1957]

Just for clarification, a wine made with grapes grown in 2018 is a 2018 wine even if it not fermented until 2019 and bottled last week. Right??

The legal definition that licensed wineries must follow is the year, is the year of the fruit harvest. So yes, grapes grown and harvested in 2018 get 2018 year, no matter if you freeze them and wait until 2019 to start the fermentation. Putting a vintage year on your bottle label means lots of paperwork to prove the year, which is why many wineries don't put a vintage on their wines. However, as home winemakers, we don't have to follow those labeling guidelines.

 

[Old Corker]

I'm with @cmason1957 here. I start counting on day one of fermentation (pitch). For me it comes down to what information do I want to know and when do I want to know it. I can get all the info I want from my notes but I don't have notes that say "Started aging on this day" I prefer a milestone that is consistent in it's definition. Pitching the yeast is a consistent milestone, end of fermentation not so much. Then when I'm standing in front of the wine rack deciding what to open there are things I want to know without having to refer to my notes. I had been in the habit of writing the bottling date on the bottle (consistent milestone). I found that I also wanted to know how long it bulk aged before it was bottled so I have begun to write that on the bottle too. Whether I'm technically correct about the definition of aging matters less to me than knowing in my own mind what I mean. Oddly my favorite milestone, the one where I get to drink it, I don't record on the bottle.

 

[Tipsy]

I'm with @cmason1957 here. I start counting on day one of fermentation (pitch). For me it comes down to what information do I want to know and when do I want to know it. I can get all the info I want from my notes but I don't have notes that say "Started aging on this day" I prefer a milestone that is consistent in it's definition. Pitching the yeast is a consistent milestone, end of fermentation not so much. Then when I'm standing in front of the wine rack deciding what to open there are things I want to know without having to refer to my notes. I had been in the habit of writing the bottling date on the bottle (consistent milestone). I found that I also wanted to know how long it bulk aged before it was bottled so I have begun to write that on the bottle too. Whether I'm technically correct about the definition of aging matters less to me than knowing in my own mind what I mean. Oddly my favorite milestone, the one where I get to drink it, I don't record on the bottle.

I write the date I pitched the yeast on the top of the shrink wrap. Just the month and year. That way when I look at the wine on the rack, I can tell at a glance what age it is. I also have a list of all my wines with starting mo/yr, when I bought the kit, how many I have, and when its ready to drink. I also have a column so I can track what I drink. I update this about every six months or so. This way I can tell easily when I am getting low on something. I keep track on what I buy each year so I don’t go overboard. There is only myself so I try to limit myself to 6 kits a year. Except last year cause I was playing catchup.

I have also started keeping notes on each batch as I make it and as it ages. Probably overkill but its all a learning experience

 

[Rembee]

As far a bottle labeling, I put the year that my home grown muscadines or blueberries were picked in, on the label. As far as other country wines that I produce, I put the date that it was bottled on the label. My other wines are made from juice concentrate or frozen store bought berries and fuirts. So who knows when exactly those fuirts or berries were picked!

 

[mainshipfred]

I'm with the school of when AF is complete although pitching the yeast could also be used since there is only a couple weeks difference. Aging whether bulk or bottle is still aging.

 

[Raptor99]

As far a bottle labeling, I put the year that my home grown muscadines or blueberries were picked in, on the label. As far as other country wines that I produce, I put the date that it was bottled on the label. My other wines are made from juice concentrate or frozen store bought berries and fuirts. So who knows when exactly those fuirts or berries were picked!

That is a good point. What does harvest year mean when using frozen fruit or concentrates? It makes sense to use the year in which fermentation was started. I have experimented with using "harvest year" seasons. Since most fruit is harvested in the fall, I consider the 2020 season as running from July 2020 through June 2021. My idea is that if I freeze some fruit in the fall, I try to use it up before the following summer. I'm not sure if that makes it more complicated, but I've experimented with this.

For our purposes, the vintage year is mainly useful to tell at a glance how long a bottle has been aging, and maybe to distinguish one batch from another (depending on how you label your batches). So counting from yeast pitch rather than when fermentation is complete doesn't really make much difference since the fermentation is usually complete in a week or so. One week is insignificant in the context of 6-12 months of aging.

 

[Sailor323]

What is this aging of which you speak? Actually, using a calendar for determining how long to age a wine or when it is ready to drink is almost meaningless. Where do you keep the wine? What kind of temp, humidity? Vinification techniques? Oaked or not? Typically, I label the bottle with the year I started the wine. I begin testing it within a few weeks of bottling to monitor its progress over time. While nearly everything I've made benefits from aging, most of it is drinkable within a few weeks.

 

[winemanden]

I'm sure someone wrote a song "What a difference a Day makes"
A few years back People in UK used to brag, m,y cars a F or a G or H registration etc. They used to change registration first letter August 1. If you bought a car July 31, it was officially 1 year old on August 1. Crazy!!!
With wine just go by taste. If it's ready get the corkscrew out. Dates are just numbers.

 

[winemaker81]

There's a lot of good ideas here.

I use the date the yeast was pitched, as that (as was mentioned) is the one consistent date. The year of the wine is the calendar year it was started in, as doing otherwise is misleading. Think about it -- I purchased a 3 yo kit or a frozen juice bucket from 2018 -- it is misleading to call it 2018, as a month from now the wine is 3 years old and is ready to drink, right???

 

[Raptor99]

There's a lot of good ideas here.

I use the date the yeast was pitched, as that (as was mentioned) is the one consistent date. The year of the wine is the calendar year it was started in, as doing otherwise is misleading. Think about it -- I purchased a 3 yo kit or a frozen juice bucket from 2018 -- it is misleading to call it 2018, as a month from now the wine is 3 years old and is ready to drink, right???

That makes a lot of sense.