Wine Shelf Life

[mrzazz]

A friend of mine asked me how long would a fruit wine last? I told him it does get better with age. So how long of a shelf life does fruit wine have? I know grape wines have a longer shelf life? Correct?

 

[Tom]

Fruit wines will not last as long as red wines. I would say 3-4 years TOPS! Fruit wines are low in alcohol and do not have the body of a big red.
fruit wines are made for early drinking.

 

[JohnT]

Fruit wines will not last as long as red wines. I would say 3-4 years TOPS! Fruit wines are low in alcohol and do not have the body of a big red.
fruit wines are made for early drinking.

To aree with tom and expand a bit more..

It really depends on the fruit. If it is a particularly tannic wine, and the acid level is at the correct range, then a fruit wine should have some longevity.

 

[PPBart]

A few months ago I had to empty and move a storage rack (as part of a general rearrangement of that room).

When I moved the rack away from the wall, I was surprised to find lying on the floor behind it a 375-ml bottle of pear wine that I bottled in 2004. Obviously, the bottle had somehow slipped out of a lower level of the rack and fallen to the floor without breaking and without being noticed.

The wine looked perfectly clear, the cork was solid, no evidence of seeping. I finally could stand it no longer and pulled the cork -- pure vinegar!

 

[pwrose]

I know I have a chokecherry wine that will need at least 3 years before it is even palatable. That said most fruit wines start downhill after 2-3 years, that is not to say they are bad but they are on the down swing.

 

[winemaker_3352]

This also depends on storage - how you are storing your wine, what temps/humididty.

Wine stored at 65-70 degree's - just a bsmt - will not last as long as a wine stored at 55 degree's.