When do you start the count when aging wine?

[John Miller]

Seems like a dumb question, but when is the common time to use when figuring out how old your wine is?
Do you start when you pitch your yeast, or when it's done fermenting?
Thanks

 

[salcoco]

aging is when wine has cleared and is stable.

 

[Scooter68]

As soon as fermentation has ended.

In the long-haul it matters only to the point of what want to put on the label. I use the date (Month) when I started the wine. Clearing can take a few days to a over a year.

 

[Boatboy24]

Frankly, it doesn't really matter. Pitching yeast, completion of fermentation, clear and stable - you're only talking a matter of a few weeks here. For me, it is the date of pitching the yeast. But ask ten home winemakers and you'll get ten different answers.

 

[Johnd]

I’m in the same camp as @Boatboy24 , few weeks here or there is meaningless in the aging cycle of years.

 

[Scooter68]

So I shouldn't count last 15 months since my peach wine finished fermentation as aging time because :
1) It still has a significant haze to it. So it's not clear.
AND
2) I haven't added sorbate, K-Meta and back-sweetened it either. So it's not stable.

Then again since it's made with peaches and not grapes - it's not wine either by some folks here.

I find that rather odd.

 

[pillswoj]

I only put month and year on the label use the month yeast was pitched

 

[Johnd]

So I shouldn't count last 15 months since my peach wine finished fermentation as aging time because :
1) It still has a significant haze to it. So it's not clear.
AND
2) I haven't added sorbate, K-Meta and back-sweetened it either. So it's not stable.

Then again since it's made with peaches and not grapes - it's not wine either by some folks here.

I find that rather odd.

I’d count it as 15 months, it’s been wine that long....but that’s just me, FWIW.

 

[Scooter68]

I’d count it as 15 months, it’s been wine that long....but that’s just me, FWIW.

Agreed - Whatever date a person chooses is fine - Unless you are selling the wine commercially, it really doesn't matter.

(And I just use month and year as well. I also put on ABV and pH just for my info.)

 

[bstnh1]

I don't bulk age very long, so I put the month and year of bottling on the label. Like other have said, when you're talking years, a couple of weeks is insignificant.

 

[mainshipfred]

I agree with others it's a personal choice. FWIW I'm somewhere between press and MLF completion. Not to concerned about the 4-6 week difference.

 

[1d10t]

For beer I put the brew date and bottled date down. That tells ME what I want to know. I'll probably do the same with the wine I started. But then again, in wine don't folks talk about the vintage? So, if you have the origin of the grape the year would that be enough? My kit doesn't list a 'vintage' that I can see though.

 

[Johnd]

For beer I put the brew date and bottled date down. That tells ME what I want to know. I'll probably do the same with the wine I started. But then again, in wine don't folks talk about the vintage? So, if you have the origin of the grape the year would that be enough? My kit doesn't list a 'vintage' that I can see though.

Most kits have a date code on them, there’s a thread here somewhere detailing how to interpret each manufacturers code. For me, the date code wouldn’t be useful in determining how long the wine had aged, the fermentation date would be. Typically, with fresh grape wines, that vintage date is enough, but there are exceptions like:

1. You’re making a wine with frozen must from grapes picked and crushed years ago. I’d use the date of fermentation as the vintage, but note the year the fruit was harvested.
2. You’re making wine with grapes from the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, a 6 month difference between a 2018 wine from the US versus a 2018 wine from Chile.

 

[garymc]

I just put the year on my labels. In very rare cases, the year of harvest and the year I make the wine are not the same and I use the year the wine was made.

 

[Scooter68]

Unless you are certain of the year of the fruit/grapes in your wine the date on a bottle has more to do with the age of the wine itself.
When talking about wine from grapes harvested the same year the wine is made - THEN the year of the grape becomes the focal point.