Dates & Plum Wine

[john_udt]

Hi Friends,

I bought some good quality of dates and dates paste from KSA when I was on a business trip.

Found that 1 kilo of dates past and 1.5kilo of dates was still there , also had 0.75 kg of Australian plum in my Freezer .

I just cut the seeds out from the dates & plum then put them in a SS pot that had 3 litre water slowly boiling .Later added the 1 kilo of dates past along with hand full of raisin .

•1.500 gram Chopped / minced Dates
•0.100 gram golden raisins
•0.750 gram Australian Plums (sourer)
•1000 gram Dates Paste

Then boiled 3 more litre of water and added 2 kg of sugar , mixed them with the fruit pulp well.

Total Water & Sugar;

•6 litre water
•2 kg of sugar

Will cover the primary and set aside for next 12 hours.

Referring Jack's URL for the ingredients and chemicals with slight changes:

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request114.asp

•2 medium oranges :
•2 small lemons :

The above are sour ingredients , as I have added the plums that is already sourer can some one recommend if I still need to add them for better taste ?

Only thing I can think of is that Orange has Good flavour's in it .
How about adding vanilla essence that we add for making Cake ? Have any one tried ?

The other chemicals I plan to use are as below:

•¾ tsp pectic enzyme
•pinch (1/8 tsp) of tannin
•1scoop- Potassium Metabisulfite powder (1 crushed Campden tablet )
•1 tsp yeast nutrient

Yeast:

•1 packet wine yeast

I have below yeast packs , can some one advice the better yeast that I should use ?

LALVIN EC-1118 VERSATILE CHAMPAGNE YEAST
RED STAR MONTRACHET YEAST
RED STAR PASTEUR CHAMPAGNE WINE YEAST

Thinking of using the 'Lalvin EC-1118'

Adding Tea is good in this wine ?

How about adding some dried apricot , I have about 500 grams .But these dried apricot has sulphur dioxide , potassium sorbate in the ingrediants so not sure of using them in it.

Please advice ..

Thanks,
Regards,
John

 

[Julie]

make sure you take a hydrometer reading before adding the sugar and only add what you would need to bring your sg where you want it. I would say around 1.080. ABV would be best around 11%, personnally I would add tannins instead of tea, not sure on the apricots but the dates and plum sounds really good!

 

[john_udt]

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your tip .

Yes will need to take the SG .Will do it now ..

How about the Wine Yeast .. I have 3 Varity & thinking of using the 'Lalvin EC-1118'

Regards,
John

 

[cintipam]

Hi John

of the 3 yeasts you have I'd go for the Pasteur Champagne. It is the only of the 3 that lists fruits in the best for listing. Here's what it says....

Red Star Pasteur Champagne Dry Davis#595 Cabernet, Cider, Dry Whites, Fruits, Meads, Port 59-86° 13-15% Medium-Low

For comparison, here's the listing on Montrachet and 1118.

Red Star Montrachet Dry Davis#522 Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel 59-86° 13% Low

Lalvin EC-1118 Dry 1018-02 Champagne, Dry Meads, Late Harvest, Secondary-Stuck Ferment 45-95° 18% Low

If I'd had more choices I might have tried the Lalvin 1116. Most folks say it is excellent for fruit wines and easy to handle, great for stuck fermentations. Never tried it yet, but it sounds easy and foolproof.

I am concerned about your kmeta listing tho. No idea the amount you are making but if 5-6 gallons it should be 1/4 tsp kmeta powder or 5-6 crushed tabs. You list a scoop of powder which scares. Too many folks have read the WRONG part of the directions of the kmeta. For Sanitizing solution it is strong, but in primary fermenter for controlling wild yeast it is as I listed it above. 2 very different usages and strengths for kmeta.

Your ingredients sound fascinating. Be sure to give a report at tastings down the road.

Pam in cinti

 

[cintipam]

As far as adding things like vanilla etc. wait till the wine is done and close to bottling. Then try bench tests. Basically you get a bunch of cups, pour a little wine in each and then add just a drop or two of whichever flavor you are considering, mix and try it. I have found pure vanilla ext to work well, I also like chocolate. I use the chocolate and other flavors from the wine store, but the vanilla I just use pure extract like in a cake. Not artificial tho.

A bench test will tell you a lot. You can experiment with adding oak (liquid oak sold near the flavor extracts in the Brew store) and acid blend also. Never know what will make the flavor pop, and it is a fabulous way to spend a few hours with a trusted friend.

pam in cinti

 

[john_udt]

Hi Julie ,

Checked the SP Gravity and it is about 1.135 ( After adding the sugar )
32 balling
i.e, 18% Alcohol
Temperature is 87 F

Will it reduce over time , should I add more water to reduce the alcohol level ?

Hi Pam,

Thanks , I will then use Pasteur Champagne Yeast .

Yes, I think I made a mistake in the calculation of Potassium Metabisulfite powder . The container is for 10 litre so it is about 2.64172 gallons ,if I add more water to change the SP Gravity , then will need to add accordingly. I think 1 tablet for 1 gallon should work better .

Thanks,
Regards,
John

 

[john_udt]

Hi ,

I reduced the balling for about 25 by adding 2.5 litre of water and one orange ( I like Orange ) .

Today is Day One after the Yeast was added .

The fermentation have stared well I believe as I could see the water bubbles in the aircork.

Some of the images taken during fermentation process on day -1.

Thanks,
Regards,
John

 

[john_udt]

Hi All,

Today , I checked the SG of the primary fermented must & it was 1.010 .So I filtered the must and moved to the secondary container including Some of the fine lees .

This is to have the yeast needed for secondary fermentation.

So now I will see when the Secondary fermentation will stop & the SG comes below 1.000 , hope I can then start racking .

Thanks,
Regards,
John

 

[john_udt]

Hi All,

Thought to update on my secondary fermentation Process :

Today I checked the SG of the wine and the SG was about 0.994 @ about 30'C temperature ,so after correction the SG should be around 0.997 ;

Used a PH test strip & this showed the PH to be in between 3 - 4 with the colour I got after dipping in wine .

Have attached few Images below after removing the aircorks and you can see the dead Yeast leash are settled down at the bottle bottom.


So tomorrow thinking to move the wine to a different bottle as the leash sediments may start creating bad flavour soon.

Then Planning to add the Potassium Metabisulfite powder during racking.
How Much Potassium Metabisulfite powder should be added during racking ?

Also can I add cleaning agent (Sparkolloid & Bentonite) during the first racking ? Will it create off flavour or is it better to leave it for couple of months ?

I tasted the wine and it is not sweet and the taste was like any commercial Wine that you get in any airliner . Do I need to add sugar to wine ? When can I add the Sugar if I want to add ?

I am not able to see any bubbles in the wine now at least couple of day's ,so concluding that the secondary fermentation is stopped.

I am keeping the wine in soft -drink pet bottle as these plastic are of very good Quality .Would like to know if I can keep the pet-bottle's down like keeping any other glass wine bottle , do you see any problem ?

Please advice if you see any problem or corrections needed in my making next time , I am also planning to list down the corrections & learning's once my First Wine making process is completed.

Thanks,
Regards,
John

 

[john_udt]

This one turned out to be the best wine many expects who have tasted many different types of wine told me and most importantly if you take it very little every week in six months you find your self having got back your 10 years Younger energy like you where in your early 20's .. Not sure if any others had tryed this out ...Think that's because of the high amount of Dates used with out diluting...

 

[gsf77]

Pretty color