Door County Cherries

[CoachPieps]

Just got back from Door County Wisconsin with 68 pounds of Frozen Pitted tart cherries. If anybody has a favortie recipe for Cherry Wine, please post a Reply. I am also thinking of making a small batch of cherry wine with almonds, anyone have a sugjestion of how much almonds I should add to my recipe. I am thinking about a quarter to a half cup per gallon of must????

 

[Tom]

Be careful adding any nuts as they contain oils and can turn rancid.
Use any "fruit" recipe just change the fruit to Cherry. I would use 5-6# per gallon. Make sure you do a TA test, Starting gravity should be 1.085.
Good luck keep us updated

 

[Joe Callow]

I just completed a small batch of Door Co. Cherry wine. I used a recipe identical to the cherry wine recipe here. It was practically ready to drink at bottling. I'm afraid I know nothing about adding the almonds, but it sounds great.
Which farm did you get your fruit from? Price?

 

[CoachPieps]

Joe, can you please point me to the recipe you used, I can seem to locate it.

 

[Joe Callow]

Cherry Wine [Dry] (3)
8 lbs morello cherries
2-1/2 lbs sugar
1/2 tsp tannin
1 tsp pectic enzyme
7-1/4 pts water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Port wine yeast
Bring water to boil. Meanwhile, destem, wash and crush the cherries in the primary without breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries. Pour the boilling water over the sugar and cherries and stir well to dissolve. Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and discard pulp and stones. Rack after 30 days and again when wine clears. After two additional months rack into bottles and store in dark place. [Adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]

 

[Mud]

Cough syrup has ruined cherry wine and liqueurs for me forever. It's too bad as cherries are tops in fruit. The wine sounds good, but I can't shake the association.

If you leave a few pits in won't you get an almond flavor? Might be too bitter, though. Don't panic about the cyanide. It's a very small amount.

 

[Joe Callow]

I pitted the cherries. If I knew that I could have had an almond hint to it, I wouldn't have spent the extra time!
Yeah, you can definately get the cherry cough syrup taste. I get it from my wine, and from the stuff I buy from local Wisconsin wineries. there's a guy who makes a great Cherry Kirsche, but the first glass is always a little cough syrupy. I don't usually remember the second glass....

 

[Runningwolf]

Cough syrup has ruined cherry wine and liqueurs for me forever. It's too bad as cherries are tops in fruit. The wine sounds good, but I can't shake the association.

If you leave a few pits in won't you get an almond flavor? Might be too bitter, though. Don't panic about the cyanide. It's a very small amount.

Mudd, you are so right and I have said that over and over. I had one winery that tried to talk me into some cherry juice and gave me a taste...and I did gag.I saig it reminded me of cough syrup or Nyquil. I hate both of them but get them cherry flavored when I need them. I am ruined forever for cherry wine!

 

[Mud]

Can't give you an idea on quantities, Joe, but you'd definitely want to pit almost all of them. And what you put in would want to be whole. Cracked pits will make it very bitter quickly from what I've been told. I believe pits were historically used to flavor maraschino cherries, but no longer. Might find some info there. Sorry I can't be any more help.

It's too bad, Dan. I want to like it, but alas. No reflection on quality either. Just an association that's rooted deeply. Maybe I should start buying plain cough syrup for the kids. Oddly enough kirsch is no problem. Probably got something to do with body as well as flavor.

 

[CoachPieps]

I buy the frozen pitted cherries, I have been happy with the Cherry wine I have made so far...

 

[ashappar]

Cough syrup has ruined cherry wine and liqueurs for me forever. It's too bad as cherries are tops in fruit. The wine sounds good, but I can't shake the association.

absolutely, that and cheap cherry vodka (blech)

but in cherry wines' defense I did try a couple commercial ones that were very nice. as long as the alcohol is not too high, the good tart cherry flavor comes through and not the reminder of cough syrup.

french lick's montmorency cherry was quite good with strong flavor and a nice tart finish. Inspired by that, I'm going to try some cherry wine this year using the brownwood acres cherry concentrate. fingers crossed it will come out nice.