The harvest season typically falls between August & October in the Northern Hemisphere and February & April in the Southern Hemisphere. With various climate conditions, grape varieties, and wine styles the harvesting of grapes could happen in every month of the calendar year somewhere in the world.

When should wine be bottled?

After quietly aging your wine for several more months (depending on your patience and willpower, for thirst is a dangerous thing!) you are ready to bottle your wine into clean, sanitized bottles. As professional wineries do, the bottled wine ought to be laid away for at least 3 months before drinking.

Is the year on a wine bottle the year it was bottled?

A wines vintage represents the year in which the grapes that were used to make that wine were grown and harvested. It doesnt have anything to do with the year the wine finally comes to the market, but instead the year the ingredients in the bottle were grown.

What is the year on wine?

The year on a wine bottle refers to the year in which the grapes were harvested, ie the year of vintage or the vintage year.

What happens if you bottle wine too early?

The last thing anyone wants to do is bottle their wine too soon. This is especially important if you plan on handing any of it out as wine making gifts. A significant amount of sediment could eventually form in the wine bottle, or worse yet, corks could possibly start pushing out and cause a mess.

What happens if you dont rack your wine?

This break-down process is known as autolysis and its effects can eventually ruin a wine. If given enough time--weeks, not days--this process can produce off-flavors in a wine that range from bitter, to rubber, to even metallic. Another reason for racking wine is to aid in the clarification process.

How long should you bulk age wine?

You can age wines too long, but it depends on the wines. General rule of thumb for white is 3-5 years is optimal, for Reds 6-10 years with some notable exceptions being considered long term investments. For country wines, its best to treat them all as white wines until you get a good idea of whats optimal.

How do you know when a wine expires?

The wines you buy at your local grocery store or convenience store are usually wines that fall into the “drink within one year” category. If there is no expiration date listed, then check the vintage date. The vintage date is the year that the grapes were harvested for that particular bottle.

How soon can I drink my homemade wine?

How Long Does it Take to Make Wine at Home? 2 months is the minimum time taken from start to finish until you can drink your homemade wine. However, most, if not all winemakers will highly advise against drinking your wine after just 2 months. The longer you let your wine age the better the taste will be.

How do you know when red wine is cleared?

The short answer as to how clear your wine should be before you bottle is it should be crystal clear. It should look like a solid hunk of glass when in the wine bottle. There should not be any murkiness or cloudiness to the wine at all.

How many times do you need to rack wine?

Racking is an essential part to making any sound wine. It is a process that, on average, should be performed 2 to 4 times throughout the winemaking process. Doing so in a timely manner will aid in the clarification of the wine and help to inhibit the production of unwanted off-flavors.

How long can wine sit on lees?

Wines can be aged on lees for a few weeks and months or several years. By law, a non-vintage Champagne must be aged for 15 months in bottle and spend at least 12 months on lees, according to the Comité Champagne.

Can wine be aged too long?

Generally, during the process of maturation and aging, the most obvious change occurs in the color of the wine. In white wine, the color becomes golden, and later, can turn to brown if the wine is aged too long. The taste of the wine also changes. Astringent and harsh tastes are replaced by smoother, rounder tastes.

Can wine sit too long?

Aging changes wine, but does not categorically improve it or worsen it. Fruitiness deteriorates rapidly, decreasing markedly after only 6 months in the bottle. Due to the cost of storage, it is not economical to age cheap wines, but many varieties of wine do not benefit from aging, regardless of the quality.

Which wine is most expensive in the world?

The most expensive wines of the worldPositionWine NameMax. Price (USD)1Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, France$136,4982Leroy Domaine dAuvenay Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Cote de Beaune, France$29,5323Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, France$89,63647 more rows

Can you drink a 50 year old wine?

Its not harmful, but it wont taste good. Even on the rare chance that a wine has turned to vinegar, it would be unpleasant to drink, but not dangerous.

Does wine have an expiry date?

Unopened wine can be consumed past its printed expiration date if it smells and tastes OK. Red wine: 2–3 years past the printed expiration date. Cooking wine: 3–5 years past the printed expiration date. Fine wine: 10–20 years, stored properly in a wine cellar.