Adding pepper flavor to wines

[mr_dicken]

My wife and I have tried and liked a wine that had a Poblano Pepper flavor. It added just a little kick to the wine but was not too spicy. I am wanting to attempt to add this flavor into a kit that I have started but need a little guidance. AS I am trying this for the first time I would prefer to try a few different amounts of peppers to see what level I am happy with. I am wanting to accomplish this by adding some Poblanos after clarifying the wine, during a few week aging process. I guess my questionare is this wise and has anyone done something similar before? IT is a Cab by the way.



Thaks in advance!

 

[vcasey]

I don't know that I would personally do that with a Cab, but I have added peppers to a few of my meads. They're still aging a bit so I can't tell you how successful I was just yet. I dumped the peppers (sliced, seeds and all) in when the mead went in the secondary, let it sit until I was happy with the flavor then racked off. I let mine sit for a while so no clearing was needed but I did end up filtering to get all those seeds.

 

[wjdonahue]

I like the idea of adding peppers during the secondary, but not to a cab!!!!
You are paying top dollar for the varietal....don't ruin it.
As for adding things like this in secondary...there are 2 reasons.
1. the peppers will contain some sugars which could leave some residual if you don't ferment them out during secondary.
2. There are a lot of unfermentable carbos and proteins in vegetables, if you aren't careful, you can get a protein haze just like in beer.

 

[mr_dicken]

Thanks for the info. The original wine we tasted was a Pino and we typically prefer a Cab so we thought we would start with it. Sounds like I need to invest in another carboy... I want to atleast wind up with a few bottles of something I am willing to drink!

 

[ArdenS]

Another option you might consider would be a country wine, i.e., a poblano wine. You would need to use something like golden raisins or Welch's 100% white grape juice to give it body. I haven't made a pepper wine, but have been thinking about a jalapeno wine. Here's a recipe that will give some ideas:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques32.asp

Another thing to consider, if you're making a 6-gallon batch, is to divide it into 1-gallon batches and experiment with slightly different amount of poblano pepper. That'll give you a sense of where to go the next time you make a full batch.

 

[Wade E]

I believe appleman here made a apple/jalapeno wine.

 

[joeswine]

I'M as creative as your going to ever get ,however one of my wine Buddy's makes a halo pino and its harsh at best ,however there are some who like it and he makes batches ,TEPE tell them about bobmat and his wines (very different)..me my self wouldn't bother to many other additives to enhance the juice with ..thats just my opinion..

 

[Tom]

I'M as creative as your going to ever get ,however one of my wine Buddy's makes a halo pino and its harsh at best ,however there are some who like it and he makes batches ,TEPE tell them about bobmat and his wines (very different)..me my self wouldn't bother to many other additives to enhance the juice with ..thats just my opinion..

Oh yea!
Bob.. made a GARLIC wine. He started it in his garage. 2 days later SWMBO said ....EITHER THE WINE GOES OR YOU GO...
The smell went through the whole house. If something grows he will try to make wine out of it.

 

[ArdenS]

I saw a recipe for sand burr wine. Haven't tried that, but I have a dandelion mead sitting in secondary right now.

 

[vcasey]

You could always split the batch, leave 3 gallons alone and play with the other 3 gallons. That way you get something. Of course you'll need at least 1 3 gallon carboy + something to hold the rest.

By all means play with your wine - it's your wine and who knows maybe a peppered Cab will taste fantastic.