[rshosted]

I am wondering how all of you who have finished and aged your fruit wines, AND made fruit wines from kits (or tasted either to get you into the 'know').

I've made a couple of Island Mist kits and they all finish very low alcohol and VERY sweet. I haven't finished a 'home' fruit wine (yet). I wanted to know how you would compare your wines?

Are they dryer? Sweeter?

Have you ever made any 'home' fruit wines that taste similar to the same fruityness as the Island Mist kits?

[Curt]

rshosted,


The beauty of scratch wines is that you can have them finish any way that you desire. Most fruit wines do benefit from a bit of sweetening back. It brings the fruit flavors out more. No more than a white zinfandel though, if even that much. Maybe more like a rhinehessen or a gewerztraminer. I have a batch of rhubarb/strawberry that I'm just barely going to sweeten and on the other hand I have a dried apricot that I'm going to make into an after dinner sweet wine. Whatever you want.Edited by: Curt

[pkcook]

rshosted,


I finish all my wines completely dry and then sweeten to taste. Some I leave dryer than others. I find it easier this way than trying to stop a fermentation with the right residual sugar left.

[PolishWineP]

As Curt said, sweetening back will bring out some of the hidden flavors. We made that mistake early in our scratch wines, not sweetening enough to bring out the flavors.


If you want the fruity flavors that you find in your Island Mist kits, I think you'll need to sweeten back and then consider adding flavorings and maybe a bit of glycerin. What are you looking for from your scratch wines?

[rshosted]

To try a little bit of everything. I tried a true 'home-made' wine at an associates house. I think his taste buds were fried. Now that I'm trying it, I wanted to make sure my tastes are not way off... and that I'm making things that are up to par (or hopefully better).

I believe there must be a way to get a fruit wine that is as good as the next.

Also, this is a litte sad, but in my 'part of the woods' we don't have fruit wine. We can only get wine at the liquor store (not grocery stores like normal people) and never on Sundays. So the state controls what they provide. So that means NO FRUIT WINE. I have some friends who just moved here from the East Coast. They have two bottles peach and blackberry that appear to be commericially made. They have promised to let me taste them, but I haven't had the chance yet.

[Curt]

rshosted,


A good resource for fruit wine recipes is at Jack's site here. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/winemake.asp If it doesn't have a heartbeat there is probably a wine recipe for it there.

[MedPretzel]

Well.........





I'm partial, just because I predominantly make fruit/country wines. To me, there's nothing that tastes better than a rose-hip wine. Chrysanthemum is a (very) close second.





Rarely you will find that a fruit wine tastes like grape wine. That's why there are differences. I have made pumpkin that tastes likesimilar to agrape wine. I know a friend of mine has made a green-bean wine that tastes similar to a grape wine as well.

I believe there must be a way to get a fruit wine that is as good as the next.

Oh definitely. Makes me sad to think that the general consensus of non-fruit-wine-drinkers think that it isn't that good. It just tastes different. Like coke and dr. pepper and 7 up are all classified under "soda", but have different tastes.





Good luck, and keep us posted.





Martina

[Casper]

when I make a fruit wine Ilike toput other fruits with it or blend it with another type of wine like 90 % blakberry/10 % Viognier. Give more complexity.

[pkcook]

I agree with Martina, fruit wines are not better or worse, just different than grape wines. So far, I have made raspberry, cranberry, peach, blackberry, apple, and cherrywines that were allwonderful and all very different. With the exception of the cranberry, none were even close to tasting likegrape wine.


Fruit wines are just like grape wines withrespect to taste: It is all personal preference! I will try manydifferent types of fruit and grape wines (an honey wine soon), but only repeat batchesI enjoy. That is the fun of this hobby, you can be as broad or narrow in your choices as you wish.

[PolishWineP]

Originally Posted by rshosted

Also, this is a litte sad, but in my 'part of the woods' we don't have fruit wine. We can only get wine at the liquor store (not grocery stores like normal people) and never on Sundays. So the state controls what they provide. So that means NO FRUIT WINE.

Okay, cut the state some slack. In MN they don't sell anything but crappy 3.2 beer in the grocery. In ND I don't think they sell any alcohol in the grocery. So you are not alone. The only non-grape fruit wines we get in our liquor stores are locally made fruit wines, and honestly, OURS ARE BETTER THAN THEIRS ARE!! Really. The locally produced, commercially available "fruit wines" we've tasted have, for the most part, been insipid drinks, lacking mouth and creativity. Beginners wines thrust upon the unsuspecting general public.


That said, if you want to make fruit wines and put yourself into them, learning as much as you can by reading books, information on line and asking questions, you will probably turn out a better fruit wine than is commercially available.


There are probably a few exceptions out there, but they sure aren't here.


And Poor Bert concures!