Longer Wine Kit Fermentation Times

Hey Guys,

I've started my second wine kit and am about to rack to secondary tomorrow. Since I already have my first kit bottled, I've got a bit of extra patience and was wondering if there was any benefit to leaving the wine on the primary or secondary longer?

Off the top of my head, I think the wine kit directions say 7 days for primary, 14 for secondary and another 14 for degassing. After that, it recommends 3-4 months in the bottle.

Is there any benefit in increasing any of those times?

Also, I was thinking of just letting the wine age in a carboy for 3-4 months instead of in the bottle. Any problems there? (other than tying up a carboy for 3-4 months, but i've got a few spare)

I've got some experience brewing beer, but am pretty new to wine.

Thanks guys!

I have a whitepaper detailing a 365 day wine kit timeline. I am going to follow it with my next kit. I don't remember where I got it, but I think it was in Winemaker Magazine (which can be accessed on line).

I am doing a bunch of fruit juice wines right now and will continue making more of those and the 5 gallon concentrate wines during the year of my only 6 gallon carboy sitting full.

For most kits, bulk aging is fine. That's after secondary and degassing. You can age it in the carboy instead of bottling right away.

The wine shouldn't be kept in primary longer, as the idea is to get it into secondary when fermentation slows or is finished. Degassing is done after fermentation ends and before clearing. So you can't really change those timelines.