Commercial rhubarb wine

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GreginND

Super Moderator
Joined
Mar 18, 2012
Messages
3,756
Reaction score
2,379
Location
Fargo, ND
I have been getting mixed messages from friends regarding what the TTB will allow for commercial wines not from grapes. In particular, rhubarb wine.

Some say you can't add any water, some say you can. I know a lot of different fruit wines have added water to them so I would think a formula recipe with water added would be fine.

A more important question is about acid additions. The TTB is very strict about the type of acid one can add to various types of wines - e.g. Tartaric or Malic to grapes, citric only to fruits. But I can't find specific information about what acids are allowed to be added to other types of wines like rhubarb.

Can someone with experience provide some insight here?
 
I used to own a commercial winery and understand your dilemma. I would suggest that tartaric acid would be allowed for rhubarb wine as they do dictate what to have for apple and berry wines. as rhubarb is outside this dictate I assume tartaric. added water and sugar are fine. I would suggest make a sample of the wine you want to make. once your additives are determined send the formula to TTB before starting any large batches. there critique or approval will provide the path you need to follow. another thought, I believe you can research previous COLA label approvals. Find a winery that has a rhubarb label approved and then give them a call to see what formula they allowed. Good Luck
 
I goofed. I did a search on the TTB web site. first rhubarb wine is considered a agricultural wine. 27CFR 24.182 states that any wine not designated berry or apple should have citric acid. there is a search function on the TTB site try it might have more specifics on rhubarb wine or agricultural wine.
 
Thanks. I was afraid of that. I have always used tartaric acid in my home trials. I'll have to experiment with citric acid. I think since it tastes "brighter" I may be able to just use a little less.
 
I make a Rhubarb wine. It is a vegetable. It is one of my best selling wines. I would suggest making small batches and changing the formula until you get the taste you and others like. I would be very surprised if another winery that has worked to formulate their wine would just give you their recipe, unless they have retired it and would sell it. I would be willing to point you in the right direction but thats all. It took me a lot of trial and error to develop my recipe. Good luck
 
Thanks - I have a formulation I have been doing at home for many years and now have my formula approval from the TTB. I have 100 gallons in progress right now. Can't wait until it is ready to bottle! Now on to my COLAs.
 
So what kind of COLA's are you making? PEPSI or COKE or maybe even Dr. Pepper? Sorry, I had to do it because you know somebody will!

Good luck with them Greg.
 
If you google search "Mountain Dew wine". You will find a few people have actually made it. Personally I love Diet Mountain Dew. But I don't think I would go through the trouble of making it. I don't think I'd even use Mountain Dew as a mixer. Sprite and coke go way to good with whiskey.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top