Large wineries pass the bottles through a heat tunnel to shrink the capsules in place. Home winemakers use electric heat guns, or they shrink the capsule by dipping the neck of the bottle in boiling water. Although considerable research has been done, no practical way has yet been found to speed up the wine aging process. Wine ages in two different ways, and each type of aging changes the wine in a different way. Bulk aging takes place in large storage containers, and small amounts of air are always present.
Bottle aging takes place after the wine is bottled.
Here, no air is present, and oxygen is not involved. Most high quality dark red table wines are bulk aged from one to three years. After bottling, these wines are aged in the bottle for a year or more to develop a bottle bouquet. Very tannic red wines often require several years of bottle aging to reach maturity. Heavier white wines are usually bulk aged for several months and then aged in the bottle for an additional time.