Other Want a Cranberry White Merlot

[JerryF]

I recently was at a small house party (thankfully only 2 houses away so no driving was involved) where our good friends had plenty of their own homemade wines as well as a selection of purchased ones. Shamefully, I did not rinse my mouth and spit before sampling the next wine so my opinions may have been "flavored" a bit. However, one that truly stuck out for me was a light but semi-dry cranberry white merlot. I have never seen a kit sold as "Cranberry White Merlot so I'm assuming they made a white merlot then flavored it with a cranberry f-pak pre bottling. Does this sound right? Our neighbor got the wine from another person so couldn't find out from there. I do in fact have a white merlot wine kit (Cornucopia I believe) that I've had sitting for almost 3 months and I know my supplier has in-stock some cranberry f-paks. I'd like to try this but am uncertain how much of the f-pak I would add. I don't want to overpower it. The wine I tasted and liked so much definitely tasted of the cranberry but it was subtle. Anyone with suggestions or recommendations? Jerry

 

[JerryF]

Cranberry White Merlot Update

I recently was at a small house party (thankfully only 2 houses away so no driving was involved) where our good friends had plenty of their own homemade wines as well as a selection of purchased ones. Shamefully, I did not rinse my mouth and spit before sampling the next wine so my opinions may have been "flavored" a bit. However, one that truly stuck out for me was a light but semi-dry cranberry white merlot. I have never seen a kit sold as "Cranberry White Merlot so I'm assuming they made a white merlot then flavored it with a cranberry f-pak pre bottling. Does this sound right? Our neighbor got the wine from another person so couldn't find out from there. I do in fact have a white merlot wine kit (Cornucopia I believe) that I've had sitting for almost 3 months and I know my supplier has in-stock some cranberry f-paks. I'd like to try this but am uncertain how much of the f-pak I would add. I don't want to overpower it. The wine I tasted and liked so much definitely tasted of the cranberry but it was subtle. Anyone with suggestions or recommendations? Jerry

Well folks, guess this post wasn't enough to prompt some feedback so I went it alone. Once finished and cleared, filtered, etc., I ran a few different f-pak ratios into some wine glasses and used varying amounts of f-pak additions. Came out that about 250ml (1 8oz cup) to my 6 gal batch would give me the taste I was looking for. Will be awesome as a chilled wine. Nice pale rosy color, drinks dry and a good bit of tannic and oak mouth feel. Used the Vino Italiano White Merlot kit and then the Fontana Cranberry f-pak. I think I would make this again and perhaps even try one in the future with pear.

 

[the_rayway]

Good morning! I was wondering if you might be able to post your recipe? I've been watching this thread hoping someone would pipe in to your original post!

 

[JerryF]

Cranberry White Merlot Update

Good morning! I was wondering if you might be able to post your recipe? I've been watching this thread hoping someone would pipe in to your original post!

Good morning yourself. No real recipe so to speak. I used a Vino Itlaiano White Merlot kit (several others have the same kit). Preferring things a bit more on the dry side, I added 1 1/2 lb corn sugar syrup in the primary to boost the ABV a touch above the kit potential. Then added 80 grams of American Heavy Toasted oak suspended in a sterilized cotton jelly strainer bag and 1/4 teaspoon of tannin powder. All in the primary. Used 2 packs of EC1118 yeast sprinkled on surface and after 1 day, gently stirred it in. This gave me a starting SG 1.091. Let it go about a week before racking into secondary carboy where I let it sit. After several successive SG readings of 0.992, I stabilized and a day later, added clearing agents (kielsol and chitosan) and sat for another several days. After that, I filtered through a #3 filter into a primary bucket where I degassed and let sit another day. After that, a few samples taken out to blend with the cranberry in different ratios to get what I wanted (subtle cranberry, not overpowering). Based on those findings, I used 250ml of f-pak gently stirred into the bucket (contents about 6 gal) and let it sit 1 more day. Just bottling and aging after that (of course, several bottles kept out to drink right away). Hope this helps rayway. Jerry

 

[the_rayway]

Thanks Jerry! Much appreciated.
How did you construct your f-pac? Simmered down cranberries? How many lbs to start? Sugar?

 

[JerryF]

Thanks Jerry! Much appreciated.
How did you construct your f-pac? Simmered down cranberries? How many lbs to start? Sugar?

Rayway ... wish I was that knowledgable to be able to do real cranberries simmered down but I'd really struggle with knowing how much to start with, how long to simmer, filter, etc. So, I took the chicken's easy way out and used a commercially available f-pak. I found a cranberry f-pak from Fontana, 500ml container, already concentrated. Not expensive (around $15 if I recall right) and this amount (500ml - 2 cups worth) would be typically enough to lightly flavor two 6 gal kits (be cautioned though that this concentrate will impart some sweetness depending on how much you add - just like backsweeting). I would encourage using your suggested method however to get the so-called "true" cranberry flavoring, it's just that I don't have enough (any?) experience to be able to suggest otherwise.

 

[the_rayway]

Lol, no worries, I had no idea one could buy an f-pac! That's awesome. I'll see what I can come up with when I have a chance to give it a go, and let you know!

FYI - LOVE the new profile pic My kids are crazy about minions (ok, ok, so am I).