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Is wine still good after long time in secondary?

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jrc64

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
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Location
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Hello all. I've a cab in a secondary for around 5 or 6 weeks now. Kit said to keep in there for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, there was too much going on with home and life, and it has now sat for around 6 weeks in there. I was planning on bottling this weekend, but want to make sure its still worth the effort.

Thank you.
 
What do the kit instructions suggest you do after 2 weeks? Never made a wine from a kit but I would suspect that at most the instructions will be asking you to degas and add finings. If that's all they suggest then allowing your wine to sit on fine lees for a few more weeks does not seem like a problem to me. But if you are really concerned why not steal a sip. If the wine tastes good enough to bottle (it's still going to be very green for another few months) then you are home and dry. If it tastes bad then the problem is not likely to be because it was sitting in a secondary for a few weeks (assuming that there is no headroom and so no likelihood of oxidation)...
 
What do the kit instructions suggest you do after 2 weeks? Never made a wine from a kit but I would suspect that at most the instructions will be asking you to degas and add finings. If that's all they suggest then allowing your wine to sit on fine lees for a few more weeks does not seem like a problem to me. But if you are really concerned why not steal a sip. If the wine tastes good enough to bottle (it's still going to be very green for another few months) then you are home and dry. If it tastes bad then the problem is not likely to be because it was sitting in a secondary for a few weeks (assuming that there is no headroom and so no likelihood of oxidation)...

I already degassed and finings. Been sitting like that for around 5-6 weeks.
 
so it's simply bulk aging... and as long as there is liquid in the airlock I honestly see no consequential difference between aging in a bottle or aging in a carboy. (truth is I would argue that bulk aging might improve a wine more than bottle aging) . The fact that kit makers suggest that you bottle immediately has (I think) far more to do with the idea that an empty carboy may encourage you to buy another kit whereas a full carboy may not serve to encourage that desire.
Bottom line? I wouldn't be anxious about this at all.
 
so it's simply bulk aging... and as long as there is liquid in the airlock I honestly see no consequential difference between aging in a bottle or aging in a carboy. (truth is I would argue that bulk aging might improve a wine more than bottle aging) . The fact that kit makers suggest that you bottle immediately has (I think) far more to do with the idea that an empty carboy may encourage you to buy another kit whereas a full carboy may not serve to encourage that desire.
Bottom line? I wouldn't be anxious about this at all.

Whew!! Thank you very much for your help.
 
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