OK, I'm getting really confused. As a first time country wine maker, I've
currently got 20 demijohns of various concoctions sitting around the place.
Some have been going since August, and all signs of fermentation seem to
have stopped. Now, I read that I should leave the wine to mature in the
demijohn for at least 6 months before bottling. Trouble is, many of my
demijohns are plastic, not glass (and I can't find anywhere local to buy
more glass ones - postage costs from further afield would be prohibitive),
and now I read that I shouldn't leave the wines in them for more than a
month. So what to do? Should I just bung some fermentation stopper in those
which have stopped showing signs of active fermentation, and bottle them? Or
would I be better off leaving them in the plastic containers for a while
longer? Or should I forget about the fermentation stopper, and bottle them
as they are (unless of course, they're still fizzing!)?

The wines I'm talking about are those which are tasting as though they've
finished - they're pretty dry (and rough!) in most cases, and I'm hoping
some aging will improve their flavours (not that they're bad now, just I
think they could be better!).

I'm no perfectionist, I just want to know if bottling now would be
premature - I certainly don't want anything exploding on me! All I ask is
that I end up with something alcoholic that doesn't take the back of your
throat out when you drink it. I'm sure I'll become more 'fussy' in future
years, but right now I could do with some very basic advice!

Many thanks!

Jo



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