Darlene wrote:
> Mike,
> I make only fruit, veggie, and herb wines - have been at it for about
> 7 years or so. And I do follow Terry Garey's book - the info given is
> good. Strawberry wine is the quickest fruit wine to make and drink -
> under a year. Blackberry takes over a year, but it is worth it. I
> don't know that you can do anything to shorten the process. I don't
> mind letting you know how things turned out for me with some of my
> fruit wines - it's up to you, but Garey's book is my resource. A lot
> depends on the type of wine you like, as to what type of fruit wines
> you'll like or how to make them so you'll like what you've made. Let
> me know. Darlene
>

I also only brew what ould be termed "country" wines rather than grape wines
and although I have been at it for many years I wouldn't put myself up as
being an expert in comparison with what I have read whilst lurking in this
group.

I haven't really found any way round aging wines. Some wines do mature
quicker, whites as others have said, reds seem to take longer. I have
discovered a bottle of elderberry which had been sat in the back of a
cupboard for 5 years and it was absolutely divine, almost too good to drink
(but not quite!). One exception I found was red currant wine. I bottled this
after leaving it in the fermenting vessel for 3 months and it was good
enough to drink then.

Somewhere I have a book on express winemaking. I'll dig it out and see what
it says.