Aging bottle

Figure 4. Drinkability related to time in distribution channels when the wine is bottle aged at the winery for 6 months...

Film yeast wines do not benefit from bottle aging. Indeed, they are at their best when drunk from the last stage of the solera and deteriorate in flavor with time in bottles. 

Fig. 1. An amplified outline scheme of the making of various wines, alternative products, by-products, and associated wastes (23). Ovals = raw materials, sources rectangles = wines hexagon = alternative products (decreasing wine yield) diamond = wastes. To avoid some complexities, eg, all the wine vinegar and all carbonic maceration are indicated as red. This is usual, but not necessarily true. Similarly, malolactic fermentation is desired in some white wines. FW = finished wine and always involves clarification and stabilization, as in 8, 11, 12,13, 14, 15, 33, 34, followed by 39, 41, 42. It may or may not include maturation (38) or bottle age (40), as indicated for usual styles. Stillage and lees may be treated to recover potassium bitartrate as a by-product. Pomace may also yield red pigment, seed oil, seed tannin, and wine spirits as by-products. Sweet wines are the result of either arresting fermentation at an incomplete stage (by fortification, refrigeration, or other means of yeast inactivation) or addition of juice or concentrate.

As a consequence of bottle aging, carbohydrate conversions can occur, although slowly at cellar temperature, to form the caramel-like 2-furfural aroma for example, in aged Madeira wines. Rapp and Giintert (86MI141) have shown that such carbohydrate decomposition in Riesling wines leads to 2-furfural 9,2-acetylfuran 10, ethyl furan-2-carboxylate 11, 2-formyl pyrrole 12, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural 13. 

Bottle aging is reserved for vintage, LBV, and crusted ports (Fig. 5.9). These wines are chosen for their quality and structure. After an initial period in wood, the wines are matured in dark glass bottles laid on their sides in cool dark cellars. Temperature, ventilation, and humidity are strictly controlled (Fonseca et al., 1998). Once bottled, these wines do not come in contact with oxygen. 

In a more recent study, Bailly et al. (2009) investigated the stability of key odorants during bottle aging in Sautemes wines. Except for 3SH, polyfunctional thiols were found unstable. However, most other key odorants (e.g., sotolon, phenylethanol, esters, y-lactones, p-damascenone, etc.) were still detected within 5-6 years. 

Botrytized wines have remarkable aging potential. Most improve with several months to years of in-barrel maturation, followed by many years of in-bottle aging. 

A diversity of maturation concepts and methods is applied to New World botrytized wines, from short, in-tank maturation to the aging in new barriques for several years. Subsequent bottle aging is typical. 

It has been the author s experience that most high quality red wines require at least three years in the bottle to develop a significant bottle bouquet. Few wineries can afford to store all their red wines until they reach this stage. In recent years, a number of wineries have been holding back a portion of their wines for additional bottle age and releasing them... 

A problem common to many wineries in this area is an overabundance of new or almost new wood cooperage. It is often not possible to allow the wines to remain in wood to achieve the level of maturity desired by the winemaker. Rather, it is necessary to remove the wine prior to it becoming too astringent and having too predominant an oak aroma. In lieu of a long wood aging cycle, a number of wineries are bottle aging their wines for an extended period of time prior to release. 

The development of maturity and complexity of the wine is a relatively slow process. While we occasionally observe significant increases in these characteristics in as little as three months, it is more common to find increases in maturity and complexity over time spans measured in years. Some of the white wines of the Northwest are allowed to mature in the bottle for up to one year prior to release for sale. These wines are usually either sweet or are truly dry white wines. Typical examples would be botrytized or late harvest White Rieslings and Chardonnays. The red wines of the Northwest generally are aged in the bottle for one year or more prior to release. A notable exception in recent years has been wines of the V. vinifera cultivar Merlot, offered by several wineries in Washington with six months or less bottle age. 

Simpson, R. (1978). 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphtalene an important contributor to the bottle aged bouquet of wine. Chem. Ind. Land., 37, 163. 

Furthermore, the contribution of 2FM to the roasting coffee bouquet characteristic of certain old champagnes was also demonstrated by Tominaga et al. (2003a). The 2FM content in the Champagnes analyzed increased in proportion to bottle aging time, both before and after disgorging (Fig. 8B.4). 

Fig. 8B.4 Development of 2FM content during bottle aging in champagne wines...

Finally, the adsorption of certain wine volatiles by the lees and the barrel itself (Chatonnet et al. 1992a Ramirez Ramirez et al. 2001 Jimdnez Moreno and Ancin Azpilicueta 2007), together with the possible changes that can occur during the additional bottle aging period (Pdrez-Prieto et al. 2003), will also cause modifications in the final aromatic composition of the wine. 

Lavigne, V, Pons, A., Darriet, P, Dubourdieu, D. (2008) Changes in the sotolon content of dry white wines during barrel and bottle aging. Journal of Agricultural and Eood Chemistry, 56, 2688-2693. 

Simpson, R.F. (1979) Aroma composition of bottle aged white wine, Vitis, 18, 148-154. 

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