Is there a lot of difference between fermenting on the fruit vs just the juice?

[Juggernaut]

And does it matter more or less which fruit?

 

[jamesngalveston]

I think one way is easier then the other.
Example...

6 gallon black berry from whole crushed blackberries....easy to get in bags and in the primary.,
6 gallon black berry from fresh crushed and juiced....
took all day to get the juice, lots of work. very easy to get in to primary.
I think that you get more color by using fruit expecially if its got a peel,, of any kind. like a mango,peach,apple..
And if you use berrys you get more color using the berries and letting them break down by the pectin....strawberry,blueberry,blackberry, etc.

 

[JohnT]

Jugger,

In short, yes and no.

First, you need to decide where your tastes are and what you plan to accomplish by fermenting on fruit or fermenting just the juice.

Typically, fermenting on the fruit is done to obtain more in the way of tannins, color, and body in the end product. I also believe that fermenting on the fruit might bring out more of the fruit characteristics (but am not too sure on this one).

 

[Turock]

I agree with what John said. We've compared our wines, done on the whole fruit, as compared to the same wine done with juice. Infact, we just did this with a sour cherry. There's no doubt that done on the whole fruit is better. You can make a nice wine with juice if that's all you have available. But if you have the option of going with fruit, do it. The pulp of the fruit adds much more flavor.

You can think about this as a juice bucket. You can make nice wines with them--but the wine is better when done on the grape.