Kiwi Fruit Wine

[gordini]

I once tasted a superb sparkling kiwi. Lightly flavoured and a gorgeious light green colour. I have never been able to reproduce it, with my wines always slightly bitter an a dull green/brown -definitely not oxidized.

 

[tonyandkory]

try and use half the kiwi up front and ferment then use the second half as f- pack...

make sure that you don't have any skins or seeds in fermentation.
I was told it makes the wine bitter.

Vintners harvest makes a Kiwi concentrate

 

[mustangzrule]

Keep us updated. I have been asked by my circle of taste testers to do a kiwi batch and I have been seriously considering it.

 

[mustangzrule]

As far as brown is concerned, and bitter, what were your initial acid levels and final acid levels (if you have them)? Citric acid is a great antioxidant used to keep fruit from browning in air.

 

[gordini]

I agree, keeping the phenolics out of the ferment is the way to go. The pH is always low, around 3.1, but I'm not sure of the total acidity.

 

[mustangzrule]

PH only tells how strongly ionized the hydrogen is the solution is rather than the total available amount. A pH of 3.1 is pretty acidic, so fits right into the range for my organic process.

I always titrate my musts and record the data so I can learn what works and what does not. I avoid the use of sulfites so I have to experiment on my own to learn the differences and how to produce a good wine without them. My acid numbers are always higher than the traditional process initially by about .25 - .35%.

I am chomping at the bit to start another batch and maybe we can keep notes on this.



My ex, gf, ex-gf, whatever, friend, suggested to try strawberry-kiwi, but I imagine the pink/red mixed with the green will produce a sickly brown. The taste of a strawberry-kiwi wine sounds absolutely amazing though.

 

[gordini]

I agree about the anti-bacterial effect of a low pH, however, I still add about 30ppm SO2. I like to store my wines with some confidence. However strawberry is problematic as the antho cyanins are very weak and bind up free S02, so I have to add more progressively through finishing. I make a fair bit of strawberry, and I must admit, it is not my favourite fruit. Now rhubarb I find enigmatic. A blend with Kiwi would be interesting.