Chocolate

[harleydmn]

How much should I add to a 5 gal batch of blueberry port. I picked up 4 bars of Lindt 85%. I was planning on adding it to the secondary.

 

[wineon4]

I make Cherry Chocolate using Lindt's 90% I add 3 broken bars to the primary and it turns out just fantastic. I transfer over to the secondary about half of it then discard it at the first racking. After talking with many Judges I have found out that they dislike the taste of chocolate up front and most can tell if you use flavoring which is a disqualifier. They want the fruit up front with a small taste of chocolate last. My Cherry Chocolate has 2 Gold and 1 Silver medals. Four bars may be to much.

 

[harleydmn]

Thanks, I'm going to add them to the secondary, will that be ok? I will just use 3 of the bars.

 

[Julie]

That should be fine, I always add my after fermentation and I get the flavor of the wine and then a good chocolate finish.

 

[RegionRat]

I used dutch processed coco powder. Next time I will try with the Lindt's 90%. Can I add it to something that is bulk aging?

RR

Edit, I just saw your response Julie. Guess that answers that

 

[harleydmn]

Julie, do you think I should use 3 or. 4 bars?

 

[wineon4]

If adding to the secondary I might try the 4 bars and taste the wine every few days until you get the desired taste. RegionRat you should be fine in an aging wine just monitor the taste. One thing with chocolate is it will overtake the fruit if allowed to age to long. Once it overpowers the fruit the wine becomes more of a "chocolate/fruit" wine not a "fruit/chocolate" wine. I have tasted some other winemakers fruit/chocolate wines and all I tasted was chocolate. At the last Competition I attended this past weekend there was a Cherry/Chocolate that was made using syrup and it was almost all chocolate and received a poor review from the judges, and a Raspberry/Chocolate/Port made with Lindt's bars that was excellent. I work with chocolate in a lot of my wines and the best advice I can give is to TASTE, TASTE ,and TASTE again.