Aging of wine

[Lauritsen]

How do you know what amount of aging time is Best? I am making apple wine.

Why do you age in cold places? What is wrong with a warm Place?

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Lauritsen. How long to age? That's a little like asking how long should string be... You want to age any wine for as long as it takes to taste as good as it gets. Mind you, if you start with good apple juice (pressed for hard cider or wine) and you chose the yeast carefully, then you can expect that wine to improve exponentially as the months go by. Apple wine after 6 months is far better than after 3 and after 12 months it can taste incredible. If , however, the juice was really made to be drunk unfermented and /or is bulk processed by large commercial conglomerates to be sold in supermarkets then the aging will still improve the flavors and aromas but not as much .. so you need to decide what the "cost" is of storing and waiting versus opening and drinking... I guess the point is that while fermentation may be over when the yeast have finished all the sugar there are still myriad chemical processes taking place that modify acids and colors and flavors and aromas - and indeed, you can see evidence of this as sediment continues to fall over months and months. How long should you age a win? As long as it needs to age.. Best way to know? open a bottle every two or three months and see the difference that makes... (I made a coffee wine that needed two years before it was drinkable and apple wine becomes heavenly after 12 months)...

 

[jc5066]

A lower alcohol wine that you back sweeten can be drank in as little as 4 weeks from the start. After about a month of aging it won't get any better.

A dry red wine with 11-14% alcohol will improve anywhere between 1-2 years, sometimes even longer. Then will keep at this level for a few years.

I was once told, with a dry red to age for a year. After a year take 12 of bottles and set aside. Open one every 6 months and watch the wine improve each time.