WineXpert storage after bottling

[Blah]

I'm new to wine making, and i'm curious about after bottling. I have my first wine fermenting right now that is a island mist kit. So i know i can start drinking it right away. But i have my eye on other kits that say i need to age at least a month to six months after bottling. So will it be okay to leave the bottles at room temp for that short amount of time? I have no basement or anything like that sadly.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum!

I know its done and probably okay but certainly not ideal to age at room temperature for that long. Maybe stay away from the 8-week kits and be satisfied with the 4, 5 and 6-week kits?

 

[Blah]

right now i do have the 4 week island mist kit fermenting. I was wondering about the Vintner's Reserve. The online instructions say wait at least a month after bottling and its even better after 3 to 6 months. I'm new to drinking wine also, so if i find i love it i might get and electric cellar one day, but for now just wondering what a new person does. I love arbor mist wine, and think the island mist kit will be like that. I think i will drink all of it in a months time or little longer. Real wine i'm taste testing to see what i want to try. So far white wine is winning (Pinot Grigio is my favorite real wine so far)

 

[GaDawg]

I have done winery series and eclipse kits and store them in the pantry at room temp for over a year and they are great! I do not think it is so much the temp but the consistency of the temp.


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[bkisel]

I've had kit wines up to about a year in the bottle, after 2-3 months bulk aging that have been fine stored in my basement which runs from around 74F this time of the year to maybe a low of around 62F winter time, showing no ill effect when finally consumed.

I think temperature and climate/humidity control is way more of an issue for commercial wineries than it is for us home/hobby wine makers.

 

[Blah]

okay, thanks for the info. I was planning on using the island mist kits for just regular drinking, and then making one of the vintage reserves and letting it age and drink some at a month, 2 month, etc... I think i will be alright from what yall are saying. If i do become a wine lover then i'll consider the electric cellar and let some age for a year and longer.

 

[AZ_Sky]

I made my first batch of wine four years ago (all deep dark reds) and I'm just now starting to drink them four years later.
I also don't have a basement so I bought two 75 bottle wine refrigerators and filled them with my wines, all from various kit manufacturers, and stored them undisturbed at 55 degrees.
I gotta say, these reds taste wonderful!
They still have a lot of tannin and I think they will easily store for several more (or a lot more) years.
If you have room for a wine refrigerator it's a wonderful option....

 

[Blah]

very nice setup!

 

[jsiddall]

I made my first batch of wine four years ago (all deep dark reds) and I'm just now starting to drink them four years later.
I also don't have a basement so I bought two 75 bottle wine refrigerators and filled them with my wines, all from various kit manufacturers, and stored them undisturbed at 55 degrees.
I gotta say, these reds taste wonderful!
They still have a lot of tannin and I think they will easily store for several more (or a lot more) years.
If you have room for a wine refrigerator it's a wonderful option....

That's awesome!

I built my own wine refrigerator (see http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f4/designing-working-refrigerator-storage-unit-42562/#post480907) but it only holds 84 bottles, and is now full. I don't have room for another I will leave my lower end kits on the floor in the basement, where it averages 19 C (66 F) with a few degrees variation from summer to winter.

It is interesting to me that you have cellared your reds for 4+ years. I think that some of what I regularly read about people who start enjoying theirs "early" (say at 6 months to a year) probably aged theirs much warmer and thus accelerated the process significantly. I am hoping that patience will eventually pay off with an even better wine due to the cool cellaring.

It is good to hear that aging significantly warmer won't end in tears as I will also have to do that with some of my kits.

 

[AZ_Sky]

That's awesome!

I built my own wine refrigerator (see http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f4/designing-working-refrigerator-storage-unit-42562/#post480907) but it only holds 84 bottles, and is now full. I don't have room for another I will leave my lower end kits on the floor in the basement, where it averages 19 C (66 F) with a few degrees variation from summer to winter.

It is interesting to me that you have cellared your reds for 4+ years. I think that some of what I regularly read about people who start enjoying theirs "early" (say at 6 months to a year) probably aged theirs much warmer and thus accelerated the process significantly. I am hoping that patience will eventually pay off with an even better wine due to the cool cellaring.

It is good to hear that aging significantly warmer won't end in tears as I will also have to do that with some of my kits.

Yes, I have sampled the wines over time and found that while they most certainly are drinkable and taste OK early, the heavy deep reds that I enjoy really didn't start to take on that wonderful complex flavor until after two-three years of cellaring and even more so after four years. I am extremely happy with the results of my patience!!!

I think that these reds (Cabernet, Zinfandel, & Syrah) will taste even better with another year or two of cellaring.
So while I'll be drinking them occasionally, my plan is to let them go at least another year but to drink enough of them to open up enough slots to make another batch.

I hate to purchase yet another wine frige but I just might have to. Here in Arizona I don't have the option at all to let the bottles sit in any spare space I have.

Good luck - I think you will love the result of long-cool cellaring.

 

[Blah]

I went ahead and ordered a merlot wine kit and also a 35 bottle wine cooler so i can at least keep some wines around the right temp hopefully. Also I was wondering, since island mist kits is not a real wine from what i have read... how does storing temp affect them compared to the real wine kits?
My thinking is I can keep 30 bottles of the merlot and 5 bottles of the island mist in the cooler, and be fine with just keeping the rest of the island mist bottles at room temp. That way i can let the merlots age some while drinking on the island mists etc....

 

[AZ_Sky]

I went ahead and ordered a merlot wine kit and also a 35 bottle wine cooler so i can at least keep some wines around the right temp hopefully. Also I was wondering, since island mist kits is not a real wine from what i have read... how does storing temp affect them compared to the real wine kits?
My thinking is I can keep 30 bottles of the merlot and 5 bottles of the island mist in the cooler, and be fine with just keeping the rest of the island mist bottles at room temp. That way i can let the merlots age some while drinking on the island mists etc....

Good on you!!
Personally, I don't think you will have a problem with the Island Mist storage.
It's not really designed for long term storage so it will probably be good by the time you drink it no matter how you store it.

With the Merlot you will certainly want to store it properly for at least two years (four years for me) minimum and a wine refrigerator will work just fine for that. If you can check the humidity and find it's a bit low you can probably add a small tray of water to the refrigerator bring it up a bit.

Personally, if I have spare slots in my wine refrigerator that's where I store my more expensive "store bought" wines.
As you are probably aware, temperature fluctuations are one of the main reasons for wine degradation.
So keeping any of my good wines cool, quiet, and in the dark are my main storage goals!

Best of luck -
~ Terry ~

 

[Blah]

I have another question lol... I received my wine cooler the other day, so i bought a few bottles of wine to place in it so i could test out everything before i really need it for my homemade wine. I bought a digital thermometer to place inside to keep and eye on the temp. I also have and instant read thermometer that i have had for various uses over the last couple of years. Now what confuses me is i have noticed that the instant read on the bottles seem to show about a 5-8 degree warmer temp than the digital thermometer. My question is which one is the most important one to monitor? Should i be aiming for the bottle temp to be 55 degrees or 55 degrees inside the cooler and not worry about the wine bottle temp?

 

[sour_grapes]

After a reasonable period of time (say, overnight), the bottles and the wine and the air will be the same temperature. Period. You seem to have a problem with one of your thermometers or maybe the measurement method using the instant-read thermometer.

 

[Blah]

okay, thats what i was thinking. I just wanted to make sure though in case my thinking was off.