has anyone tried this...

[Phador]

I'm thinking about ordering two 96 oz vint.harvest strawberry fruit base, and throwing in a few lbs of frozen strawberries at an attempt to make strawberry wine,,,has anyone tried anything like this?

on a side note, I'm considering buying Italian Pinot Grigio (World Vineyard) kit. Has anyone tried this particular one before?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Yes, or better yet go to a big box store and get 60 pounds of sliced frozen Doles strawberries, save out 10 pounds for the secondary and ferment 50 pounds crushed up in a 5 gallon batch, when its almost finished primary in the bucket remove the pulp and add your 10 pounds of uncrushed reserved berries to boost the flavor a little. Using honey to bring the SG up a little makes it better. Adding a little bit of oak if you like oak makes it surprisingly winelike and good. Strain the pulp out or use a fermentation bag. WVMJ

 

[Phador]

do you mean add ll that fruit to the wine base, or instead of the wine base?

 

[dralarms]

Instead of.

 

[Noontime]

I've never done strawberry wine either way, but is there a considerable difference between the canned strawberries and the frozen? Seems to me that neither are fresh fruit, so why not go with either the cheaper or easier (puree) base.

 

[dangerdave]

I made the World Vinyard Italian Pinot Grigio kit at Christmas 2012. I like it very much. I still have a few bottles left. It has really held up over time, keeping that nice crisp flavor charateristic of this grape. I will make it again.

 

[Turock]

The puree bases are not all that good by themselves. Using them WITH fruit is better than the bases alone. Frozen fruit is a good choice because it's riper when picked because it's flash frozen. Sometimes, frozen fruit such as strawberries are better than the fresh ones from Calif. because they aren't ripe when picked and many of them have little flavor. The only way to make a good strawberry wine is to use the best-tasting fruit you can find.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I made a deal with the local grocery store to buy all there strawberrys that were overly ripe, and were about to throw away...made excellent wine.
Most store pick there fruit way before its ripe, because its going to be in transit, its going to be on the shelf a while...If picked when ripe, it will spoil before it gets to the store. are will have a short shelf life.

 

[dralarms]

Well the frozen strawberries are the ones picked that are too ripe to make it to market, they are flash frozen and very good.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

For strawberries the frozen ones work very well, we can get the Dole and they have worked well for us. I have made the VH different fruit bases from fruit that is hard to get but not the strawberry as they are easy to get frozen and it makes a very good wine. You can base your selection of fruit on cheap or on quality, I always choose quality as we have found cheap equals weak flavor most of the time. The best strawberry wine ever would probably be made from Alpine strawberries, picked every day when they are at peak ripeness, frozen until you had enough berries for 100% juice and fermented slowly in a nice cool basement. I dont like picking strawberries, to much work, the frozen ones are much easier to pick and you dont cut your fingers opening a metal can WVMJ

 

[Phador]

what yeast would you recommend? I think i will go with the VH base and 10lbs frozen in primary. Any other suggestions for tanin etc?

 

[peaches9324]

I have a strawberry wine in the secondary made with 48 oz vint.harvest strawberry fruit base and a can of welches strawberry breeze concentrate. The day after I racked it into the secondary the bubbler blew off. But think its ok cuz it still bubbles.Too early to tell the outcome.

 

[Noontime]

Really great info guys! Thank you. Knowing the frozen is picked later and flash frozen is good to know.

 

[peaches9324]

I Used Cote des Blanc to bring out the flavoring of the fruit.