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Twelve-Month Patience

Premium Red Aging Shopping List

Built around an Amarone or Cab kit you plan to age 12+ months. Get the oak, the SO2, and the corks right.

Russ's premium reds outperform their kit price by 3x because of three decisions: medium-toast French oak, accurate SO2, and natural corks. All three are on this list.

8 items 1-page PDF Free, forever Vendor-agnostic
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A printed Backup Wine premium red aging shopping list on a dark cellar shelf beside a glass carboy of deep ruby aging wine, French oak cubes, and natural wine corks

What's on the list

Grouped by store aisle so you walk the shop in order — in and out without backtracking.

The Kit

  • Amarone or premium 18L red

Oak

  • French oak cubes
  • Oak spirals (alt)

Chemistry

  • K-meta
  • Vinmetrica SO2 tester
  • Argon wine preserver

Bottling

  • Natural corks
  • Shrink capsules

Who it's for

  • Anyone with a $130 Amarone kit and the patience to leave it alone
  • Beginners who finished batch one and want batch two to actually impress someone
  • Cellar-builders who care more about year-three than month-two

Why you'll love it

Three decisions, dialed

Oak. SO2. Cork. Get these right and your $130 kit drinks like a $40 bottle.

Dose precisely

K-meta and a tester — not eyeballing it. Aging beyond six months means you measure.

Don't synthetic a Cab

Natural corks breathe. Synthetic doesn't. The list makes the call for you.

Free download

Print it. Fold it. Take it to the shop.

We email you the PDF so you have it on every device — phone in the car, printer at home.

Get the premium red list

Drop your email — we'll send the PDF plus Russ's 12-month aging schedule (when to oak, when to dose, when to bottle).

One email with the PDF, plus the occasional winemaking tip from Russ. Unsubscribe any time.

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