SANDCHERRY WINE

[NorthernWinos]

This is a new one for me.....Usually I mix the Sandcherries with the Chokecherries in a Wild Black Cherry Wine....


So this time it's just with Sandcherries and red grape concentrate...Hope it has enough flavor to stand on it's own...if not...will bottle it in one gallon jugs and blend it with Chokecherry at bottling.


The juice was pretty mild.

~~~~~~~~~SANDCHERRY/RED GRAPE WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~


10 QUARTS SANDCHERRY JUICE [23# STEAM JUICE EXTRACTED]
2-500 mil BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
6 CAMPDEN TABLETS [crushed]
8 1/2 # SUGAR
4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
4 tsp ACID BLEND
1/2 pk OAK CHIPS [toasted]
2 VANILLA BEANS
10 BLACK PEPPERCORNS [toasted]
water to 6 gallons...S.G. 1.084


TOADY:
3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER


RED START MONTRACHET YEASTEdited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

With color like that it's hard to believe that it can be on the mild side. It looks like it will be great.

 

[Wade E]

Looks good and have never even heard of Sand Cherries but it sure looks good.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Sandcherries are a short lived but fast growing shrub...wild in some areas...Bloom very early in the spring...

And sets it's fruits along the branches....

They reseed themselves. They are said to be wild in some states...or...maybe they escaped cultivation.


The fruit is somewhat tart, but become sweet when fully ripe....


Hope the wine comes out okay....guess no wine really tastes that good the day you mix it up.....Can't wait for a few days...then will have to taste it.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Waldo]

Looks mighty good NW

 

[NorthernWinos]

24 hrs after pitching the yeast...everything seems to be normal...Love the smell....but I love the smell of all wines fermenting.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Racked the wine yesterday...gave it a little taste....hasgood flavoreven right out of the primary....think it will be light a lightly flavored Chokecherry wine.

 

[Wade E]

Nice ferment there!

 

[Waldo]

WOW...That is one fine fermentation going on there NW. Someone is going to have to invent or make an aromatic candle with that odor.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Bottled the Sandcherry Wine today. It had quit dropping any sediment and was just sitting there [aging...taking up space in a carboy] I have many plans for future batches of wine...too few carboys and space to keep them....So we bottled it today.

Before bottling we tasted it....After reading Bovinewines posts on Blending and Finishing I thought I could maybe give this wine a bit of a boost.


It wasn't flabby, but with the addition of 2 tsp. Liquid tannin and 2 tsp. Acid Blend/6 gallonsit seemed to perk up. The flavor is much like Chokecherry, even tho it finished dryit hasa hint of cherry/sweetness, much milder than the Chokecherry Wine.....


Might plant more Sandcherry plantsnext year....this wine is going to be a regular.

 

[Fly boy]

NW, do you know what kind of sand cherry plants you have?Do you get a lot of berries from eachplant?

Edited by: Fly boy

 

[NorthernWinos]

I think they are a native plant...from somewhere?.....We got them from the County Soil and Water Conservation Office...they came in a Wildlife Package of several native plants...in the package came...Sandcherries, Nanking Cherries, Rugosa Wild Rose, Wild Indigo, Flowering Crabapples, High Bush Cranberries and Red Twig Dogwood andCotoneasters. They all produce some sort of fruit or seeds for the birds.

They are actually meant for the birds...but they are too good for them. I picked the fruit off of 2 old bushes in the original row and 2 volunteer plants that have gotten too big for their present site. They reseed in the straw mulch in the garden as well as in flower beds and under trees where the birds digest their seeds. I think if left unchecked they could become invasive.


They might be called Western Sandcherries. I see them for sale in this cataloge...


http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/bcherries.html


Where do you live??? I think they might grow everywhere...They are a tough little bush, tho they say short lived...maybe 10 years.

 

[Wade E]

Looks like a string of purple pearls, quite intense the way they grow almost string like. Very cool looking.

 

[jobe05]

Those are really good looking plants but I'm not sure they would grow well in the south.

Last spring I ordered the black currants, red, pink and white currants.

They all leafed out perfectly after planting and did very well.........till............... around the end of July, all the leaves started browning and falling off, a few weeks later they were trying to leaf out again, but they fell off as they came out. They have been sitting there bear limbed since Basically July but are all still alive.

I think they were still on the clock for a shorter growing season in the north, and either have to adapt to the longer seasons in the south, or maybe they just won't........dunno yet.

Wouldn't mind trying those though, and the chockcherry to see if they would grow here.

 

[Fly boy]

NW,
I live in eastern Maine and it gets really cold, but it sounds as if these are very hardy plants. I meight give them a go to see if they will grow here. we have plenty of space so that is not a porblem.


Thanks

 

[NorthernWinos]

Go for it.
They are kind of a nice plant...really pretty when in bloom, they bloom very early. They tend to get a bit woody with age. I cut one old plant back this spring and it sent up all kinds of young wood...I think it will be a good producer.


I am in zone 3...anyting that grows here will grow almost anywhere. The plants are kind of hard to find...I think St. Lawrence Nurseries have good hardy plants.


Keep us posted.

 

[bj4271]

I bought a bunch of "flowering cherry" plants that I planted around my pond a fews years ago. One thing I like about them is when I weedeat them, they come back. Now I have tires around the bases.


To my surprise, last year they produce a few edible cherries. They looked exactly like the picture you show.