Peach Wine

[Tovis]

So I did my first peach wine with 1118.

I am a little disappointed but feel it might change with time and age as it develops and I like its characteristics.

I kept adding sugar but no bang-in-your-face peach taste developed. So I stopped adding sugar prior to bottling.

What it tastes like to me is actually a Sichel Sauternes with a slight twist of peach at the finish. The initial taste is what I do not like, this tastes of alcohol and almost an aspartame taste. I feel with age the alcohol and sugars will develop more and turn into something love.

 

[Tenbears]

I did a plum that I felt the same way about, after bulk aging and in the bottle for 2 months I was still not impressed. So I offered to trade it to buddy who had some kiwi that I was rather fond of. life happened and the trade got forgotten. some 9 months later I remembered the plum wine when looking for a Fredonia on the same rack. WoW! what a difference, the plum had become a great drinker. So glad the trade got forgotten.

 

[Tovis]

So give it some time? I was thinking it needed some acid. How did the flavor develop?

 

[Tenbears]

The flavor developed nicely from a eeeh! type of wine to a hummm! now that's good. One defiantly knew it was plum but not an artificially induced or overwhelming plum flavor.
Adding acid will increase mouth feel, but most likely will not bring the peach forward.

I would defiantly give it some time. If it then does not meet your expectations, you can add some peach flavoring and call it a party wine.

 

[Turock]

The best tactic to increase the flavor would have been an f-pac using some good-tasting frozen peaches from a place like GSF.

Now, to make a good peach wine, there are several tactics that need to be considered. The peaches need to be VERY flavorful and dead ripe. When we make peach wine, we prefer to use the over-ripe trash fruit that the orchard is going to use to feed the pigs. This fruit is bruised and very soft and can't be sold. It makes the BEST peach wine ever!

We always freeze the fruit for 24 hrs first because that yields alot of juice. Use NO water because water will dilute the flavor too much. Consider using 10# of fruit per gallon. 100# of peaches will yield around 9 gallons or so of wine, using no water. Set the PH to 3.2 to 3.3 pre-ferment. Go by taste of the juice and how much acid you like. Use a nice yeast that contributes to the flavor. Either cotes de blancs or Montrachet. 1118 is sort of a blah culture that really adds nothing. Be sure to step-feed nutrient, especially with Montrachet.

Do a cool ferment using ice bombs or by setting the vat in another container and using ice and water in the larger container. Buy a fermentation thermometer to watch the temp of the ferment. Keep it around 68 degrees. This will retain the volatiles that contribute to nose and flavor.

I guarantee that the resulting wine will have BIG peach flavor and you'll enjoy making this wine every year. It has become one of my favorites.

 

[Turock]

By the way--we found this wine needs close to 1 year in bulk aging to bring the flavor completely forward.

 

[Tovis]

I do find I like the subtle fruit flavor in some of the wines I've been making. My wife liked an in your face peach wine that we purchased at a winery near my parents. I figured something was added to the wine to make it more peachy.

I will have to try that next year. I worry if the peaches will mold though if I let them ripen too much.

 

[bkisel]

Did a DB peach variation using ~14 pounds of peaches (Lemon Peach wine I call it) that was bottled 10/10/14. Was not very impressed with the initial results feeling I wanted a bit more hint of peach flavor and aroma to be present. About two weeks ago my wife opined how her enjoyment of the wine had grown. Took a sniff and taste and sure enough even to my unsophisticated senses more of the peach smell and flavor had come forth.

BTW, I also used EC-1118.

 

[Tovis]

What would lack of acid taste like?

 

[Turock]

The peaches need to be soft so that you have lots of juice available and the flavor is at its peak. The best peaches with the best flavor are at a local orchard if you have one close by. Peaches from the store are often not the best because they aren't tree ripened enough. If they get some mold on them, just cut those spots out. Don't wait for all of them to ripen--clean the very ripe ones and freeze them as you wait for more to ripen. When you get all of them cleaned and frozen for a day, then thaw and prepare your ferment.

If you have a local orchard around, ask them for their seconds and trash fruit. Most orchards are glad to know someone who will buy this stuff off of them. Most of the seconds from our orchards ONLY go to winemakers and the local wineries.

If you want my assistance next year with your peach ferment--just let me know. I'll walk you thru it. The other thing we do is to use bentonite in the primary so that we get good clearing and eliminate the pectin haze. Our peach is as clear as water---the bentonite does a great job with this wine.

Lack of acid will make the wine flabby--lacking in "brightness" on the tongue. Lack of it can also tamp down the flavor. It's amazing how the correct amount of acid on fruit wines will liven up the flavor. If you like making fruit wines, you should have a PH meter so that you can make acid adjustments pre-ferment. Your wines will be more balanced since pre-ferment adjustments integrate much better, and then you're not fighting with adjustments post ferment.

 

[Tovis]

Isnt it odd how little the english language has to explain the taste and texture of foods we eat? They are usually relative to another scent or taste.

Flabby and bright are such wonderful words.

 

[Boyd]

I make peach wine for large cans of peaches from Sams Club freezing them before starting. Seven cans for a bit over five gallons

A lady I know loves the wine and I bottle it in Grolish bottles so she can finish the bottle without having to putting away a half bottle.

So far since September I have bottled about 300 bottles of various wines from mostly wild berries. Got about 100 or so left.

Alcohol doesn't get along well with my body so I mostly leave it alone. Don't like talking to Raaalllfff on the big white telephone.

Give my wines away. Wish more people would return the bottles tho. Collecting and recycling bottles in a pain in the butt.

From left, Apple, Wild Grape/Elderberry, Potato/Orange> I also have about 15 gallons elderberry from 2011 and 2012 I am thinking of bottling, plus Rhubarb and Wild Grape.

 

[RegarRenill]

Boyd, any chance for a more detailed recipe?

 

[Tovis]

I'm about to try Pineapple which is canned, I'll see how that goes and perhaps try peach when I do it again from canned.

 

[BernardSmith]

Tovis, You don't provide the recipe for your peach wine but I wonder whether part of the problem is the use of water rather than peach nectar to make the wine. I know that there are recipes up the wazoo that treat fresh fruit as if the fruit was a concentrate and suggest that you add significant quantities of water to the fruit to make the wine... but in my book water dilutes flavor. You want more flavor?- you use less water. Really, you should use no water. You use the juice from the fruit. not enough juice? You make less wine.
There ARE exceptions. Wine from oranges is incredibly bitter and does benefit from a little dilution, and wines from flowers and honey need water..banana wine needs water, but other fruits - mangoes, peaches, apricots, berries, apples? They possess their own nectar. Diluting that nectar does not seem like a good basis for a recipe.

 

[Tenbears]

The peaches need to be soft so that you have lots of juice available and the flavor is at its peak. The best peaches with the best flavor are at a local orchard if you have one close by. Peaches from the store are often not the best because they aren't tree ripened enough. If they get some mold on them, just cut those spots out. Don't wait for all of them to ripen--clean the very ripe ones and freeze them as you wait for more to ripen. When you get all of them cleaned and frozen for a day, then thaw and prepare your ferment.

If you have a local orchard around, ask them for their seconds and trash fruit. Most orchards are glad to know someone who will buy this stuff off of them. Most of the seconds from our orchards ONLY go to winemakers and the local wineries.

If you want my assistance next year with your peach ferment--just let me know. I'll walk you thru it. The other thing we do is to use bentonite in the primary so that we get good clearing and eliminate the pectin haze. Our peach is as clear as water---the bentonite does a great job with this wine.

Lack of acid will make the wine flabby--lacking in "brightness" on the tongue. Lack of it can also tamp down the flavor. It's amazing how the correct amount of acid on fruit wines will liven up the flavor. If you like making fruit wines, you should have a PH meter so that you can make acid adjustments pre-ferment. Your wines will be more balanced since pre-ferment adjustments integrate much better, and then you're not fighting with adjustments post ferment.

I am about to start a peach wine, how much bentonite do you add to the primary ferment. What formula, and method of addition do you use. do you add before the fermentation starts or after>

 

[Boyd]

Boyd, any chance for a more detailed recipe?

Sorry, I do not keep notes or use a recipe.

I do follow the standard procedures, freeze the cans before using, K-meta and enzyme before starting ferment. I do use bentonite two tablespoons to a cup of hot water. I have a hand held blender that I use to whip it up good and let set overnite. Add after fermentation starts giving a good stir.

Add enough water to about 6 gallons and sugar to 1.100. I use 71B1122 yeast for most of my fruit wines.

Add about 1/4 teaspoon tannin and acid to taste when fermentation is complete.
Takes a long time to settle the fines so I usually use bentonite followed by sparkoloid a week or so later to help with clearing. Takes a long while to settle out.

I have also done canned pineapple with rhubarb. I am told that it makes a fine tasting wine. Depends an the person drinking it I guess as is true with most wines.

Never tried blending completed wines as I like to mess around with different things so I blend and then ferment.

Right now I have my daughters saving potato peels and when I have a gallon or so of them I am going to try potato/orange again. The last batch I made had a nice flavor but I was looking more for the taste of the potato peels.

The fun of wine making for me is to screw around and see what happens. Used to be more fun when my grand daughter like to hunt wild berries with me but she out grew me.

Below: Elderberry, 2011,and 2012.

 

[Boyd]

Rhubarb/Pineapple after I screwed up and filtered it after running elderberry thru the filter.

Opps, apple and wild grape/ elderberry. Don't have a picture of the other, but it tastes good.

 

[winetortoise]

Tovis, You don't provide the recipe for your peach wine but I wonder whether part of the problem is the use of water rather than peach nectar to make the wine. I know that there are recipes up the wazoo that treat fresh fruit as if the fruit was a concentrate and suggest that you add significant quantities of water to the fruit to make the wine... but in my book water dilutes flavor. You want more flavor?- you use less water. Really, you should use no water. You use the juice from the fruit. not enough juice? You make less wine.
There ARE exceptions. Wine from oranges is incredibly bitter and does benefit from a little dilution, and wines from flowers and honey need water..banana wine needs water, but other fruits - mangoes, peaches, apricots, berries, apples? They possess their own nectar. Diluting that nectar does not seem like a good basis for a recipe.

I think a big part of that probably depends on how "adult" you plan on the final product being, and whether you are going to age the wine, or not. Also, if the fruit substances are stronger or more intense than you prefer, more water than what is contained in the fruit helps you mild and calm the wine from the first.

For example, the beautyberry wine I'm making would not be a pleasant wine if I had started the batch with mostly beautyberries--it would turn into an overwhelmingly musky and offensive wine for sure, partially because they are not very juicy at all, as opposed to a grape, for example, which is juicy. However, using a hefty amount of berries and also water controls and tames that crazy infusion of beautyberry flavor. In other instances, I'm using water to tone down acidity, as with blueberries and grapes. I cannot safely consume very much acid and so I work to preserve delicious flavors while not watering them away.