To bulk age or not...

[tully72]

The first batch of wine I have ever made is now three months old and in a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock. What are the pros and cons of either bottling now or letting it remain in the carboy a while longer before bottling.
It is a blueberry wine infused with Brandy…

 

[novalou]

The first batch of wine I have ever made is now three months old and in a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock. What are the pros and cons of either bottling now or letting it remain in the carboy a while longer before bottling.
It is a blueberry wine infused with Brandy…

In bulk the volume better withstands temperature fluctuations. So if you have the carboy space, otherwise bottle age, I'm sure it will come out fine.

 

[sloanfamilydsm]

I always bulk age, up to 36mo if possible, based on varietal. Seems to mellow out my finished wine and they have very little bitterness. Bottle aging would do almost the same thing but I would end up drinking it before it finished.

 

[gclark35]

I bulk age so I am not tempted to try a bottle to soon!

 

[Yooper]

My advice is to always bulk age, until at least going 60 days or more without ANY fresh lees. If you even have a very light dusting of lees, it's not ready to bottle.

You should have a perfectly clear wine, with no lees at all in the bottom of the carboy after at least 60 days. Then it's ok to bottle. But I suggest cold stabilizing first, as a ton more stuff will drop out if you can put the carboy someplace cold for a couple of weeks (but not freezing). THEN I'd go ahead and bottle, if no new lees formed after that.

 

[saramc]

With bulk aging of usually 12 months from pitching of yeast most wines are ready to bottle, though still need time to age before consuming. Plus you usually have no issues with gassy wine, since this amount of time usually degasses the wine naturally. You do have to make sure to maintain SO2 levels while bulk aging. But if you need the carboy, and if the wine is clear(no sediment dropping for 60d after last racking) and degassed you can bottle whenever that time arrives. But remember to rack one final time after stabilizing and/or backsweetening because sediment will usually drop within two weeks.