storage

[bobby]

how long can fermented wine stay in a DJ before racking and bottling. does it have to be done straight away or can it stay in there forever. obviously not that it will be doing. cant wait to get the taste onto my tongue

[elleks]

You don't have to bottle it straight away, but DO rack it-otherwise the yeasties will give the wine a funny taste.

[Crundy]

Presumably if you've fined it then you can bulk condition it in a dj without having to worry about the yeast?

[fatbloke]

You don't have to bottle it straight away, but DO rack it-otherwise the yeasties will give the wine a funny taste.

Not entirely correct. It's good habit/management to rack the finished ferment off the "gross lees".

Then it can be left and depending on what the batch is, you might want to mature it on the sediment/lees that settles out then.

Damn I can't remember the name of that process......{edit}I think it's called Battonage, but I'm not certain. Also, you have to remember to swirl the yeast sediment into the wine every so often and then let it settle again{/edit}

It doesn't matter whether you age in bulk or in the bottle particularly, but it's said that it's better to bulk age, as the larger quantity of liquid is less affected by temperature variations (not all of us have access to nice cool storage cellars).

Personally, I bulk age stuff. I then forget what's under the stairs and have to remember to hook it all out every now and again..... which is handy for my meads, but not necessarily for other fruit/country wines....

Hey ho!

regards

jtfb