Rob,
The only thing I would add to this discussion is that another [claimed]
virtue of bulk ageing is the surface area to volume ratio. That is, your
oxygen exposure is much lower in a 23l carboy than a 0.75l bottle.

What confuses me is when people (the Winewizard in Winemaker mag, included)
state that oxygen seeping through corks is not intentional nor a desired
action. I can't follow this reasoning at all and believe that a bottle does
definitely undergo a more oxidative (right word?) reduction than 25 of those
bottles in a carboy with a neck diameter only 3x that of the bottle. I'm
sure UC Davis or another prolific higher education system has produced
results showing that ageing is accelerated in the smaller volume format.

I'm not tying this rationale into your first post but I think it's clear
that ageing a wine is better for bouquet, flavors, etc. Of course, every
wine has a limit and the kits are showing to be much, much lower than a wine
crafted from quality fresh grapes.


Patrick

"rob davis" > wrote in message
news:40512b19.6108362@news...
> Thanks gentlemen. I truly appreciate the culture of helpfulness and
> encouragement that exists in this group. As I post this message, I am
> enjoying a glass of cab/merlot from my first kit. It tastes great and
> I can definitely detect more depth and complexity than my last tasting
> a month ago. My latest kit is a Kendall Ridge limited edition Dolcetto
> which is just about finished its secondary fermentation. Waiting to
> be started is a limited edition California Viognier. I'm going to have
> a pretty nice inventory this summer.This hobby is so much fun, I
> almost forgot that I haven't been able to play golf for the last 5
> months. Almost...
>
> Rob