Depends on the wine, but I think my country wines benefit from bulk aging as
well as bottle aging. There's less chance of temperature and other things
to affect the wine, if you bulk age for a bit. I generally do 1 gallon
batches, so it is a bit easier for me to hide a 1 gallon container for 4
months, than it would for a 3 or 5 gallon container. I hide then in a
closet, behind a couch, you'd be surprised by how creative one gets when you
want to bulk age. I've been surprised by how the wines change, really, I do
taste tests and write down my observations. My pumpkin wine in particular
tasted like rocket fuel at 3 months, but after bottling at 7 months, I was
surprised to find it had mellowed into a Riesling-like wine. I'm going to
be very good at letting it sit in the bottles until it is 2 years old, like
they say to do - should be very nice then. The wines I make from frozen
juice concentrates are good at 7 months, but very, very nice at 18 months.
Darlene

"pontiacgagt" wrote in message
om...
I have come to enjoy making wine from the various kits that are
available. The questiion I have is with bulk aging, does it make
that big of a difference?

I mean I dont really have the space to have carboys sitting around my
house for months at a time. I have a small spot where I do my wine
which gives me enough for 2-3 carboys. I ususally go 1/2s or 1/3s
with family members so the wine gets split up (we each get 10-15
bottles form a given kit). This usually keeps the 3 carboys I have in
use with no space for bulk aging.