Something Special for 10-15 years Out?

[smyrnaquince]

[Cross-posting to the Wine Making Forum and the Mead Making Forum]

I'm considering making a wine or mead to give to my kids as wedding presents. I am looking for suggestions for something that would be worth aging 10-15 years and would be really special after all that time.

Ideas?

 

[Turnerdude1]

Just made a gal of Chocolate Cherry Mead. Will take three years to age. Got the recipe From Jack Keller site..

 

[deb_rn]

That is a LONG time frame! If it's good now, it might not be in 15 yrs... and if you want it to taste good then... it's no good now.
I would just keep making GOOD wine every year and pass it on!
Is there a reason for that particular time frame?

Debbie

 

[smyrnaquince]

Is there a reason for that particular time frame?

Debbie

Because my kids are only in their early teens and I don't want to become a grandfather too early. As I said, I was hoping to make something to give as a wedding present. My thought was that there might be something that would really do well with a long aging. (Too bad I don't distill whisky/whiskey (Scottish/Irish). 15 years of aging would be nice!)

 

[DoctorCAD]

I would have to make 1000 gallons to still have any left in 10 - 15 years!!!

I drink mine, that's why I make it!

 

[Nowuries]

I would have to make 1000 gallons to still have any left in 10 - 15 years!!!

I drink mine, that's why I make it!

Wow, way to help the poster out.... He want's to age and give as gifts, how is that so hard to understand?

OP... Hope you find what your looking for, sorry I have no input, I just thought it was strange that people would rather question why (after you already explained) than offer insight.

 

[smyrnaquince]

OP... Hope you find what your looking for, sorry I have no input, I just thought it was strange that people would rather question why (after you already explained) than offer insight.

Thanks!

 

[DoctorCAD]

Wow, way to help the poster out.... He want's to age and give as gifts, how is that so hard to understand?

OP... Hope you find what your looking for, sorry I have no input, I just thought it was strange that people would rather question why (after you already explained) than offer insight.

Gee, didn't mean to piss in your Cheerios.

I was only expressing my view on longetivity of MY homemade wine. Not questioning the OP's practices.

 

[Nowuries]

Gee, didn't mean to piss in your Cheerios.

I like that! No Worries dude, it's hard to discern tone of voice when you can't hear someone! I'm sorry I took it the wrong way.:rockin:

 

[deb_rn]

The reason for asking is that MOST wine made at home isn't meant to be kept for 15 yrs. Most people start the wedding wine when the engagement is announced. I would be afraid it went bad and then would have 200 guests giving bad reviews! You just can't tell if it will age WELL that long... it might be drinkable... but not GOOD!

Debbie

 

[Arneba28]

Hey you might want to look at any charlie papazian books. He has a section in one of his books where he is tasting some meads that were 25-50 years old. If you do something simple with a minor herb addition like thyme or lavender something like that. YOur best bet is doing a very high gravity mead with multiple step ups on fermentable over the course of a few months. Then bottle in wine bottles and seal the corks with something that will help keep them airtight. Thats just my suggestion, I have never aged anything over 2 years or so, so my information might be a little off.

 

[milesvdustin]

Hell my engagement lasted three years, but that was because stupid Iraq. I'm about to go to a career course and will have some beer aging for three months after.

What I suggestion is make the wine, let it age five years, then try a bottle every year. You might end up with maybe awesome wine. Then, as a backup, make some you know will be good for the wedding. Who knows, your aged bottles may turn out spectacular!

 

[Golddiggie]

I think it really depends on what flavors you want to add to the mead... Personally, I'd go with something that's not too flavor complex. Especially since the flavors can change, mellow, or simply go away in 10-15 years time.

You could make a mega-sack mead, in the ~21% ABV range (use Eau De Vie yeast)... You could also age it on oak for a year or more (make enough to actually age in real oak casks/barrels).

I would suggest going over to the Got Mead? site and posting the question there to see what people have made and aged for extended periods...

I would just make sure you make enough so that you account for loss from the hydrometer samples you'll be taking, plus from racking off of the lees and such. If you want to enjoy some before the 10-15 year time frame, make more. Probably not a bad idea to make enough so that you can try a bottle after 2 years and then every 1-3 years after that.

I do hope you have a place where you can age this for the long term at wine cellar temperatures. I would also go full bore and cork these suckers up, and use nice bottles... Even for the ones you'll be trying before the 10-15 year mark... I'd also make up some nice labels with info on them, so that you don't need to try to remember things, or refer back to notes when people ask... I'm already finding it much easier doing things like that.

 

[milesvdustin]

Thanks golddiggie, you somewhat reaffirmed my drunk advice. Is it bad to be posting with one eye open to see what's going on? Nah.....

 

[Golddiggie]

Thanks golddiggie, you somewhat reaffirmed my drunk advice. Is it bad to be posting with one eye open to see what's going on? Nah.....

It's not THAT bad a thing... At least no worse than me not having any home brew for the past ~2 weeks (head then chest cold)... Thankfully, I'll be having some tomorrow, and then over the weekend...

Batch/bulk aging a mead for ~5 years before bottling it could make something beyond stellar... Doing something as simple as aging over oak staves for a year, or more, could do a lot for it. You could even age for months on some split vanilla beans... With 10-15 years, you have a LOT of time to play with the batch.

I would just make sure you make more than enough. If it was me, I'd probably go with at least 5-6 gallons... More likely, I'd make two 5 gallon batches of the same exact thing, so that I'd be sure to have enough at the end... Of course, that takes into account 'bottles lost' due to sampling, sipping, other acts of manly nature.

Man, I can't wait until my traditional mead is ready for drinking... Hell, I can't wait for the two other batches to be ready either...