March 2014 Wine of the Month Club

[kryptonitewine]

Jim, where is Rossi on sale? Also, which size is $9? I agree, great for topping, then reuse bottle.

Thanks

Pam in cinti

My local grocery store often sells the gallon jugs for $9. Cheapest has been $8.88. I usually pick up a paisano and/or a moscato.


Jim

 

[vernsgal]

I completely forgot to do that. I'll update.


Jim

hahaha! well you're still doing good! With moving at the end of may I think I can take this on for July but I know most realize it takes a bit of time to do this
so finding the time...

 

[kryptonitewine]

Just updated the list. Hopefully I got everyone.


Jim

 

[cintipam]

Jim, that is a phenomenal price. Cheapest Rossi around here is 16-17 bucks a gallon depending on variety. I was sure you were going to say it was for a reg bottle.

I wish we had deals like that. Cheap top off wine, cheap bottles.

Pam in cinti

 

[the_rayway]

March - Tart Cherry Wine

Did well:I felt I managed my nutrients much better this month. Apparently having actual nutrients from fruit helps when it comes to that (v.s. tea, which has none)
Could have done better: At this point I'm entirely happy with how this is coming along - so nothing to add here!
What I learned: Tart cherries smell AMAZING and exactly like tart cherries when they're finished fermenting. Every time I catch a whiff when I'm racking it's like someone just crushed a bunch of them under my nose. It's heaven! Many other fruits I've fermented smell nothing like the original fruit, so this was a pleasant surprise.

I was really hoping to see what all the fuss was about. In the book I have by Terry Garey she states to "make as much of this wine as you can afford. Heck! Make more than you can afford!" Which to me says it's got to be something pretty special.

There is currently 1.5 gallons of it, and I'm thinking I might split it up like so: 1/2 gal with extra oak, 1/2 gal leave it as is, 1/2 gal with vanilla bean. This will get me exactly three bottles of each, so I can try them at the year mark, 18 months, and 2 years or so. If one of them is significantly better than the others, I'll know which kind to make next time! Also, I'm thinking since I now have a supply of these cherries, I might toss them into a melomel this year - honey dependent.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Just updated the list. Hopefully I got everyone.


Jim

Jim, I don't see my or Jeri's name on that list. Oh wait, we both slacked off this month. Heck, I haven't even posted March. :>
Because Spring has finally arrived in Texas, we should get a hall pass. With so much garden stuff going on this month, it's been pretty hard for me.

I have been reading the thread and it sounds like there were some rally good ones going. I hope everyone posts their findings. With pics if you can. I love show and tell.

 

[JDesCotes]

Guess i missed the cutoff. I'm making a Hungarian Oaked / banana Skeeterpee. I haven't seen it done here before so I figured it would be fun.

Original recipe, but with 5 bananas, a pack of toasted Hungarian oak powder and SG of 1.110 (dumped a bit too much sugar)

 

[the_rayway]

Guess i missed the cutoff. I'm making a Hungarian Oaked / banana Skeeterpee. I haven't seen it done here before so I figured it would be fun.

Original recipe, but with 5 bananas, a pack of toasted Hungarian oak powder and SG of 1.110 (dumped a bit too much sugar)

Why is it too late? It's still March!!

Lol, welcome

 

[winesleeper]

Peach/Banana/Cinnamon Update & Summary

Today I racked, back sweeten and added a 3” cinnamon stick. After a month I’m going to check on the cinnamon flavor. Plan on bottling the wine at 6 months.

What I learned: Wanted a 1:2 on the brown to white sugar. My peaches were really sweet and I started with 1 lb of brown sugar. So I only got to add 1 lb of white sugar to get a SG of 1.080. With back sweetening, next time I want a starting SG of 1.090 to offset the loss of wine. Hopefully after 6 months the peach flavor will be stronger and the cinnamon will not be too strong. Also, I think it’s just as much work to make a gallon of wine as it is to make 6 gallons. But, it only cost me about $15 to make and I learned something?? about peach wine. Thinking about April.

 

[the_rayway]

April will be up momentarily.

Please join us!!!

 

[vernsgal]

I know I'm a few days late but I figured I'd do my 3 lessons:
what I did well had patience, blended well and fed proper (I hope)
Could have done betterI'm not really sure at this stage,so far all is good
What I have learned make more so I have for topping up so I can end with a full gal.

 

[Stressbaby]

Starfruit (carambola) wine bottled today. If making starfruit wine, you definitely need 5-6# of fruit. Do not use the 3# Keller recommends. Also, pay strict attention to pH because if the pH is too high, this wine is awful. With the pH properly adjusted and the wine backsweetened, this is a very nice wine. Crystal clear. I backsweetened with 70g sugar. Drinkable right now.

 

[BernardSmith]

Starfruit (carambola) wine bottled today. If making starfruit wine, you definitely need 5-6# of fruit. Do not use the 3# Keller recommends. Also, pay strict attention to pH because if the pH is too high, this wine is awful. With the pH properly adjusted and the wine backsweetened, this is a very nice wine. Crystal clear. I backsweetened with 70g sugar. Drinkable right now.

Just asking for clarification. When you say that if the pH is too high the wine is awful do you mean when the acidity level is too high or when it is too low? A high pH means low acidity. A low pH means high acidity. Should star fruit wine be low acid? What pH should we be aiming for?

 

[Stressbaby]

Bernard,
Just as I said...when the pH is too high (acidity too low), starfruit wine is just not very good. The Keller recipe, at least for me, makes for a flabby wine. I'm using 'Kari.' For this batch, I adjusted pH from 3.89 to 3.28 using acid blend. However, I made post fermentation adjustments on a prior batch using both acid bland and citric acid. Next time I may try my preferment adjustments using a combination of citric and acid blend. I think citric helps bring forward the starfruit flavor a little more.


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[winesleeper]

Peach/Banana/Cinnamon Update

Bottled my wine at the 6 month mark and ended up with (5) 750 ml bottles and a very small taste.
Starting SG 1.080
Finished SG .992
Added small f-pack and back sweetened
Final SG 1.010
TA .59%
ABV 11%
Could smell peach in the wine and taste slight peach flavor at the beginning with the alcohol taste. No smell or taste of cinnamon. Fruity flavor that lingers in the mouth, think its banana. Will try a bottle in a month and try to keep a bottle for the one year mark.

 

[JDesCotes]

Just bottled my 6 gallon carboy made with 10 pounds of hand picked ontario strawberries (I picked them... Way too much work)

During setup I added about 2big tbsp of citric acid and 1.5tsp wine tannin. I also made a quick Fpack with some of the strawberry juice before I added yeast which I added after fermentation and clearing had finished.

This wine is AMAZING. it tastes like drinking a glass of fresh strawberries with alcohol. The citric acid really draws out the natural sweetness of the berries!

Can't wait to try this wine a year down the road.

 

[the_rayway]

Made up a sample label for my tart cherry last night:

 

[x_diver]

View attachment 14315

Put my plantains & raisin wine in secondary. It ain't the best smelling wine that I've made but it's got a nice color.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

Ok, I poured my plantain raisin wine down the drain. It cleared easily, but it still smells like a combination of nasty gym socks and maple syrup. I definitely don't want to taste it. I also don't want to let it sit and then risk smelling it again for fear of what I might do. Now I know what Terry Garvey meant.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[the_rayway]

Ah! Interesting. So plantains are out then.

 

[Jericurl]

Awwww....sorry to hear you had to do that.

I've done that with two of mine so far, so I feel your pain.


Rayway,
Now I can't stop singing Cherry Bomb!!