Phantom pear

[corntassel]

Was moving stuf around in my wine area and low and behold there was a 3gal. carboy of pear made in 2009. It had been stabolized and sweetoned and just sitting there hid . So I tasted it to make sure it had not gone bad. Man was I surprised BEST PEAR I have ever made and I have made some good ones. The wife sampeled it and said this is for private use only. This proves bulk ageing is very good even under difficult conditions. It hadent had any K-metar in over a year, thank God I had glycerin in the air lock.

 

[Runningwolf]

WOW thats really cool. Glad it worked out for you. Would love to taste that one!

 

[Wade E]

See, you need BrewTrax as you can set it to tell you to add or check when a wine needs some work done!

 

[bob1]

ha ha great example for not over racking

 

[corntassel]

Acording to my log I had stabolized it then 2 weeks later sweetoned it and set it aside to see if it was going to do any thing and obously it got shoved to the back. According to my log it set for 1 year & 3 months . I would not advise this because too many things can go wrong with it not protected. I guess the K-Meta flashed off and formed a pad over it.
As for taste it had a verry pear tast up front , then you could tast a hint of alcohol ending with a light fruit taste. Very smothe with good body & good aroma.

 

[fifthhorsm]

proper ageing

when most people first get into wine making they are always in a rush to taste and drink/share what they've made.... now that you've tasted what a little age can do, try putting some of your production away for awhile... me i wouldn't consider bottleing a pear wine for at least two years... then give it another year in the bottle. i think you'll be surprised at the quality you can make. it takes a little time to learn such but after nearly forty years of wine making, you learn to slow down and not get over eager.
mike

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

when most people first get into wine making they are always in a rush to taste and drink/share what they've made.... now that you've tasted what a little age can do, try putting some of your production away for awhile... me i wouldn't consider bottleing a pear wine for at least two years... then give it another year in the bottle. i think you'll be surprised at the quality you can make. it takes a little time to learn such but after nearly forty years of wine making, you learn to slow down and not get over eager.
mike

Sounds like very solid advice, but you also hit the mail on the head. Us newbie wine makers are eager to try what we've made. 6 months is a LONG time for me to wait.

 

[corntassel]

I normaly bulk age all my wine for 9 months to 1 year before bottling. Normaly I will rack and treat with K-meta every 3 to 4 months. This time I didn't and was surprised that it didn't go bad.

 

[fifthhorsm]

learning to wait

roadwarrier,
we've all been there... your best excuse is that it tastes so good you want to share/ show off to all your friends. but once you can get past that and see what proper ageing does.... then your quality will just get better and better. it's even harder to set aside a few bottles of every batch to see how your wine keeps and ages on the long term... i try and put a few away... open one at five years, then ten ect.... back in 1976 i made a killer batch of late harvest labrusca. it was pure hell fighting the urge to open those few i'd put away... the last time i opened a bottle of it was new years 2006... thirty years, it was still heaven! got one left, not sure when i'll open it.
mike

 

[1ChuckGauthier]

Seems like I have read on more than one occasion here, that the fruit wines go downhill after a couple of years. I'm all ears and willing to listen and learn............

 

[docanddeb]

It really depends on the fruit. Pear is known for taking a while to peak. Wish I had a taste of that!! Is it dry or off dry??

Debbie

 

[corntassel]

Debbie it is semi-sweet. My wife likes it that way. Actualy the sg was 1.004.

 

[Wade E]

I made a Pear wine many years ago and can vouch that it took awhile to come around but when it did it tasted very nice, similiar to a Chablis actually.

 

[docanddeb]

I had some when visiting a forum member... it was fantastic!! I hope I get enough pears to try it some day!

Debbie

 

[J-Gee]

I've made pear wine the last 3 years and I've been very happy with all 3 batches. Wade,I think this is very similar to a Chablis also. The latest batch is still bulk aging,but seems consistent with the first 2 batches.Unfortunately,the recent high winds took out half of my sugar pear tree. I may be making a 3 gal. batch this Fall,instead of the 6 gal. batch. Ron,congratulations on the Phantom Pear...enjoy!