tasting after bottling

Let's say it has been 2 months after you bottle your wine and you are curious to see how it is aging. You open a bottle, it is still not right. Can you re-cork it and let it age longer?

Also, why not bottle up a few of the small airplane size bottles of the wine, so you can just open up them and not a full bottle? Do they sell them? would they age the same as a full bottle?

jrupjr said:

Let's say it has been 2 months after you bottle your wine and you are curious to see how it is aging. You open a bottle, it is still not right. Can you re-cork it and let it age longer?

Also, why not bottle up a few of the small airplane size bottles of the wine, so you can just open up them and not a full bottle? Do they sell them? would they age the same as a full bottle?

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Yes, you can recork your bottle, but remember that it's probally not full now, so it's being exposed to more oxygen than the rest of the bottles. This will age it faster, or cause it to oxidize, depending on how much O2 is in there.

A few smaller bottles are not a bad idea! I keep several 375ml bottles both for tasting and for when there just isn't enough in the bottling bucket for a full 750ml. They WILL age faster than your 750ml bottles, but that's not a bad thing for tasting and evaluation purposes.

Good thoughts, and keep tasting every now and then. You'll be amazed at the way your wines get better with a little bit of time.

Hope this helps!

jrupjr said:

Let's say it has been 2 months after you bottle your wine and you are curious to see how it is aging. You open a bottle, it is still not right. Can you re-cork it and let it age longer?

Also, why not bottle up a few of the small airplane size bottles of the wine, so you can just open up them and not a full bottle? Do they sell them? would they age the same as a full bottle?

Click to expand...

If you have the bottle open, might as well drink it!

You can always bottle in beer bottles. And yes, you can buy 375mL wine bottles.

I bottle mostly in 375ml bottles (frosted glass so far). I like that size since I can open it and either drink it all myself (you don't want to have a 750ml bottle of 18% mead all to yourself, in a single evening ) or share it with one other person. I have some 750ml wine bottles too, but only use for parts of batches, if at all. I have the first batch of 2013 that I'll bottle in all 375ml, or smaller, bottles. It's going to be above 21% so having more than that at a time won't be advisable. I do have a 21% mocha mead that should be getting bottled sometime in 2013. Since I'm starting the flavor additions now (I pitched the yeast on December 5, 2011) it's going to be a while before it goes to bottle.

So, yeah, once you open the bottle, you should drink it up. If it's really not fit for drinking, then either cook with it or toss.

I am giving serious thoughts to starting a batch of wine soon. Just need to make sure I can get the right juice to use in it. I'm already figuring it won't go to bottle for 3-5 years (or more). Yep, I'm a patient mother...

Its also easy to bottle some in beer bottles with caps if you want some to taste. As far as resealing a bottle, why not drink it, it might even get better on the third glass. What kind of wine did you make?

WVMJ said:

Its also easy to bottle some in beer bottles with caps if you want some to taste. As far as resealing a bottle, why not drink it, it might even get better on the third glass. What kind of wine did you make?

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I think the higher the ABV the faster it becomes good as you drink it. Of course, drinking it at the right temp is also important. While it might be meh chilled, it could go to 'daaaaamn' as it warms..

You could use it to top up or blend in with another wine that is cooking.
Stay thirsty my friends!