Hi all,
I have just joined this group and am seeking advice about maturing
and storage of wine.I have about 30 vines on a limestone south
facing slope in Herefordshire.The vines(Bacchus,Schonburger,Regent
Rondo and newly planted Johanniter)have just begun to crop and
last year 2006,which was a very good and warm year in the UK
produced for me about 9 gallons of wine all started off in late
September
The wine is therefore just over a year old and I have racked it three
times.All the wines have been fermented on the grapes own yeast with
no addition of sulphites.I wash the grapes carefully before
processing
and the fermentation usually starts within four days.The juice is kept
under airlock from the beginning.
All of the wines are absolutely clear,and most are very drinkable now
I believe.I am sure that some will improve with keeping,but I am not
sure
which.For example the Bacchus tastes bright and fruity with a slight
sharpness,but the Schonburger seems full flavoured but with an
after taste.This latter wine also seems to be throwing down a thin but
dark deposit and the wine is slowly becoming slightly darker.All of my
other white wines seem just to throw down a white crystalline deposit.
So my question is whether Schonburger wine needs a long period of
storage in demijohns(1 gallon),and whether the deposit is excess
tannin.
The other point is that I do not store my wines in the dark,although I
am
thinking about rigging up a curtain arrangement in the garage.