Hi all,

It's my first effort at making wine (kit form) so bear with me. I'm
ready to bottle and the instructions state that if ageing the wine for
more than 6 months, to dissolve a campden tablet in the wine before
bottling.

I'm going to do this, and give it a good stir in. I was wondering
though what is a safe period to wait before bottling after doing this,
as a big stir will mean all the sediment is disturbed.

I was thinking about a 24hr delay?


Phil.

Rack it off the lees into a sanitised carboy and then add the CRUSHED
campden tablet -- preferably by dissolving it in a little of the wine before
you add it to the bulk of the wine. From your question it seems as though
you are dealing with a single gallon lot. If it is 5 gallons(imp)/23 litres
you need to add more crushed campden before you bulk age -- without worrying
about actual SO2 levels -- as a beginner --then add 5 tablets.
BTW I would bulk age for 6 months and then bottle anyway!

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
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"Phil Wattis" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

It's my first effort at making wine (kit form) so bear with me. I'm
ready to bottle and the instructions state that if ageing the wine for
more than 6 months, to dissolve a campden tablet in the wine before
bottling.

I'm going to do this, and give it a good stir in. I was wondering
though what is a safe period to wait before bottling after doing this,
as a big stir will mean all the sediment is disturbed.

I was thinking about a 24hr delay?


Phil.

I agree with Trevor about aging in bulk instead of in individual
bottles. The wine will be more consistient and will advance it's age
more completely if you let it happen in the larger carboy.

That having been said, properly dissolved campden (or almost any
chemical) will, with a stir, become completely dispersed in the liquid
in a very short time. If you were to stir it the campden first, then
get everything together for bottling (which you won't do, because
you're going to bulk age, correct?), the campden will be well dispersed
by the time you start filling.

Rob

On 28 Feb 2005 10:23:53 -0800, "Rob"
wrote:

I agree with Trevor about aging in bulk instead of in individual
bottles. The wine will be more consistient and will advance it's age
more completely if you let it happen in the larger carboy.

That having been said, properly dissolved campden (or almost any
chemical) will, with a stir, become completely dispersed in the liquid
in a very short time. If you were to stir it the campden first, then
get everything together for bottling (which you won't do, because
you're going to bulk age, correct?), the campden will be well dispersed
by the time you start filling.

It's five gallons and it's pretty much ready to be bottled. I want to
bottle the lot in one go and let it age in the bottles.

So if I'm understanding correctly, I should rack again to get rid of
as much of the sediment as possible. Dissolve the campden in a little
amount of the wine, then a gentle stir in will do it.

Get all my bottles sanitised and ready (maybe 1 hour), then start
syphoning into the bottles.

Please stop me if I've misunderstood, otherwise thans for the advice!

Regards,
Phil.

OK.
So you are not going to bulk age, No problem, But next time make 2 batches
and after the final racking let one bulk age for at least six months. Bulk
aging has the advantage in that the greater volume of wine is more resistant
to fluctuating temperature and it is changes in temperature more than the
actual storage temperature that is important. Especially if, like me, you
have very limited space and not the ideal temperature.. The wine in a bottle
is susceptible to very rapid temperature changes. It does make a difference!
Another advantage of bulk aging is that there is a HUGE reduction in the
"temptation factor" -- it is too easy to look at your wine rack with a
corkscrew in hand --------- and your wine will benefit immensely after a
period of aging!

Whatever kit you are using, aging makes a LOT of difference -- longer for
reds than white. and bulk aging is best!

So you are going to bottle anyway!

Do be careful when racking off the lees this last time --- it is better to
leave half a bottle or so behind than to drag the last dregs out of your old
carboy. ( what you leave behind can be siphoned off into another small
container or bottle and left to settle for a couple of hours -- and is your
first taster -- it might still be a tad murky but still drinkable by the
new vintner!).

Once you have added the crushed campden tablets solution and stirred it in
to the new carboy you can go on with your bottling

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
All outgoing mail is scanned by Norton
Anti Virus for your protection too!
"Phil@Home" wrote in message
...
On 28 Feb 2005 10:23:53 -0800, "Rob"
wrote:

I agree with Trevor about aging in bulk instead of in individual
bottles. The wine will be more consistient and will advance it's age
more completely if you let it happen in the larger carboy.

That having been said, properly dissolved campden (or almost any
chemical) will, with a stir, become completely dispersed in the liquid
in a very short time. If you were to stir it the campden first, then
get everything together for bottling (which you won't do, because
you're going to bulk age, correct?), the campden will be well dispersed
by the time you start filling.

It's five gallons and it's pretty much ready to be bottled. I want to
bottle the lot in one go and let it age in the bottles.

So if I'm understanding correctly, I should rack again to get rid of
as much of the sediment as possible. Dissolve the campden in a little
amount of the wine, then a gentle stir in will do it.

Get all my bottles sanitised and ready (maybe 1 hour), then start
syphoning into the bottles.

Please stop me if I've misunderstood, otherwise thans for the advice!

Regards,
Phil.

OK.
So you are not going to bulk age, No problem, But next time make 2 batches
and after the final racking let one bulk age for at least six months. Bulk
aging has the advantage in that the greater volume of wine is more resistant
to fluctuating temperature and it is changes in temperature more than the
actual storage temperature that is important. Especially if, like me, you
have very limited space and not the ideal temperature.. The wine in a bottle
is susceptible to very rapid temperature changes. It does make a difference!
Another advantage of bulk aging is that there is a HUGE reduction in the
"temptation factor" -- it is too easy to look at your wine rack with a
corkscrew in hand --------- and your wine will benefit immensely after a
period of aging!

Whatever kit you are using, aging makes a LOT of difference -- longer for
reds than white. and bulk aging is best!

So you are going to bottle anyway!

Do be careful when racking off the lees this last time --- it is better to
leave half a bottle or so behind than to drag the last dregs out of your old
carboy. ( what you leave behind can be siphoned off into another small
container or bottle and left to settle for a couple of hours -- and is your
first taster -- it might still be a tad murky but still drinkable by the
new vintner!).

Once you have added the crushed campden tablets solution and stirred it in
to the new carboy you can go on with your bottling

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
All outgoing mail is scanned by Norton
Anti Virus for your protection too!
"Phil@Home" wrote in message
...
On 28 Feb 2005 10:23:53 -0800, "Rob"
wrote:

I agree with Trevor about aging in bulk instead of in individual
bottles. The wine will be more consistient and will advance it's age
more completely if you let it happen in the larger carboy.

That having been said, properly dissolved campden (or almost any
chemical) will, with a stir, become completely dispersed in the liquid
in a very short time. If you were to stir it the campden first, then
get everything together for bottling (which you won't do, because
you're going to bulk age, correct?), the campden will be well dispersed
by the time you start filling.

It's five gallons and it's pretty much ready to be bottled. I want to
bottle the lot in one go and let it age in the bottles.

So if I'm understanding correctly, I should rack again to get rid of
as much of the sediment as possible. Dissolve the campden in a little
amount of the wine, then a gentle stir in will do it.

Get all my bottles sanitised and ready (maybe 1 hour), then start
syphoning into the bottles.

Please stop me if I've misunderstood, otherwise thans for the advice!

Regards,
Phil.

I agree with Trevor that bulk aging is a good thing. A suggestion. If you
have some gallon jugs, after you rack and add the campden, immediately rack
some to your gallon jugs and put them back to bulk age. Then bottle the
rest. It does not all have to be bottled at the same time.

Ray

"pinky" wrote in message
.uk...
OK.
So you are not going to bulk age, No problem, But next time make 2 batches
and after the final racking let one bulk age for at least six months. Bulk
aging has the advantage in that the greater volume of wine is more
resistant to fluctuating temperature and it is changes in temperature
more than the actual storage temperature that is important. Especially if,
like me, you have very limited space and not the ideal temperature.. The
wine in a bottle is susceptible to very rapid temperature changes. It does
make a difference!
Another advantage of bulk aging is that there is a HUGE reduction in the
"temptation factor" -- it is too easy to look at your wine rack with a
corkscrew in hand --------- and your wine will benefit immensely after a
period of aging!

Whatever kit you are using, aging makes a LOT of difference -- longer for
reds than white. and bulk aging is best!

So you are going to bottle anyway!

Do be careful when racking off the lees this last time --- it is better to
leave half a bottle or so behind than to drag the last dregs out of your
old carboy. ( what you leave behind can be siphoned off into another small
container or bottle and left to settle for a couple of hours -- and is
your first taster -- it might still be a tad murky but still drinkable
by the new vintner!).

Once you have added the crushed campden tablets solution and stirred it in
to the new carboy you can go on with your bottling

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
Remove "PSANTISPAM" from my address line to reply.
All outgoing mail is scanned by Norton
Anti Virus for your protection too!
"Phil@Home" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 16:14:50 GMT, "Ray Calvert"
wrote:

I agree with Trevor that bulk aging is a good thing. A suggestion. If you
have some gallon jugs, after you rack and add the campden, immediately rack
some to your gallon jugs and put them back to bulk age. Then bottle the
rest. It does not all have to be bottled at the same time.

Many many thanks again for all the advice. I'll be back in six months
and let you know how it went ;-)

Regards,
Phil.