Dragon's Blood too sweet?

[Uvas]

Hey gang
Dragons blood sounds very intriguing, but I really don't care for sweet wine on a regular basis. Does anyone make it without back sweetening it? Or is it even worth doing without sweetening it?

 

[fabrictodyefor]

I made a DB with only welches concord grape juice concentrate and blackberries, only back sweetened 1/4 tsp simple syrup per bottle, still very dry. One thing that really surprised me is that I haven't bought a sweet wine in years and years. However the DB and fruit wines I have made are a little sweeter than I have bought, but I really like them. I have pondered that little quirk and haven't come up with a good answer! My first DB was a quad berry and definitely semi-sweet.... it is gone now, except for one bottle which I am trying to save!

 

[GreginND]

In my very humble opinion, sweetness of wine is all about balance. I like dry wines. And I like balanced sweeter wines. DB tends to have a significant acid tartness to it, so I think it is best balanced with some sweetness. It doesn't have to taste syrupy sweet to be balanced.

 

[Uvas]

Thanks. Interesting. Would you say that DB is good with a meal (if so, what would you pair it with?) or is DB more of a "sipping by itself" type of wine?

 

[ShawnDTurner]

With DB if you follow the prescribed recipe the wine will be acidic, on the order of 2.9 so you need the sugar to balance it out. If you want it dry, treat it like a red and shot for 3.4 dry. You should be very happy. CHeers

 

[dangerdave]

As a matter of fact, Shawn, I just got my pH tester in the mail yesterday. Since I've always wanted to know, right after I calibrated the thing, I tested a bottle of DB I had made in October, following the original recipe.

pH = 3.07

And you are right. That kind of acid needs to be balanced with a little sugar. It doesn't have to be a lot.

Uvas: Make a batch and do some bench tests for required sweetness. Not many people (no one I can think of) drink it dry. Like Shawn said, it needs balance. Start with a little sugar and work your way to what you like. It may take as little as one cup for six gallons to please you. You may not need what others add for your particular taste.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

You know dave I was thinking some med fre toast and mlf ...dry. would be nice. Cheer

 

[REDBOATNY]

In my very humble opinion, sweetness of wine is all about balance. I like dry wines. And I like balanced sweeter wines. DB tends to have a significant acid tartness to it, so I think it is best balanced with some sweetness. It doesn't have to taste syrupy sweet to be balanced.

Well said Greg! It is all about balance and how it taste to you.

 

[Uvas]

Thanks! DB will go on my "to do" list!

 

[seth8530]

If I was you I would make some and sweeten it to your personal taste. I did that and came up with a wine that I found enjoyable for myself.

Dave tried it and thought it was decent enough in its own right, but it was not quite to his taste. Something to keep in mind is that winemaking is all about taste. I like things on the dry side, thus I only added enough sugar to ( in my own mind) tame the tartness.. So have fun with it. Mixing and back sweetning is an important skill to learn. Have fun with it.

 

[Uvas]

Good idea. Maybe I'll try a smaller batch to start.