For the past year a group of us have been making red wine from kits. We began with a Tempranillo in May. Next we made a Super Tuscan which we bottled in Sept. This was followed by a Zinfandel which we bottled in Nov. In Dec. we will bottle a Syrah and an Amarone. Most of the kits say that these fines are good to drink in 3 months. Will these kit wines improve with age? Can any go a year or 2? How can we tell when they are mature? Will they all be different?
Name: Charlie J.
State: PA
Hello Charlie,
It depends on the wine making kit, and to some degree, the type of red wine. In general, the fuller or heavier the wine, the more it will take advantage of aging and the longer it will take to reach its full potential.
Most all wines will mature or improve with time, but some need more time than others. Once they reach maturity they then will typically plateau in quality for a period of time. This could be for a couple of years, some maybe 5 years. Then the wine will start to slowly degrade. This is something that happens very slowly over many years, not months. The point is once a wine reaches this plateau there is no “reason” to wait longer to drink the wine. This is no different than wines you would by commercially.
You may want to take a look at the blog post, “The Importance Of Aging Your Wine“. In this blog post, there is an aging chart for most of the brands we offer. You may want to use this a general guide.
Happy Winemaking,
Ed Kraus
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.
