Satsuma Wine

[Cowboy77]

I have about 3 1/2 gallons of satsuma juice in the freezer that I pressed from fresh satsumas back in the fall and want to make wine out of. Have a few questions that I hope you all can help me with. 1-Are there any issues with making a wine from citrus juice, such as getting fermentation started, stalled fermentation, or any other issues I should be aware of when making a citrus wine? 2-What yeast would you all recommend for satsuma wine (or any citrus wine)? 3-Are there any other issues with making a citrus wine that I should know about (advice/recommendations you all have on making wine from citrus juice)? Thanks in advance!

 

[FTC Wines]

I have no knowledge to help you. But being from the Satsuma area of Florida I’m very interested. Keep. Us posted. Thanks, Roy

 

[Stressbaby]

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/satsuma-wine.54952/

 

[MJD]

I’ve made orange, lemon, and grapefruit wine. All turned out excellent....after aging a year.

I made these in the early stages of my wine hobby and allowed all to ferment “hot”. My notes are not with me, but it was allowed to ferment without any cooling to lower the temp.

The finished product was quite volatile, jet-fuelish, and I had a number of remarkable adjectives in my notes to describe the taste, if memory serves. The beautiful taste after one year was a bit of a surprise to me, given the early experience.

Use any number of white wine years (K1, Champagne, have always been top performers for me), try to keep your fermentation temps low (aim for less than 70 degrees, and lower if you can), keep the alcohol to 12-13%, add nutrients per usual, and you’re good to go.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I’ve made orange, lemon, and grapefruit wine. All turned out excellent....after aging a year.
The finished product was quite volatile, jet-fuelish, and I had a number of remarkable adjectives in my notes to describe the taste, if memory serves. The beautiful taste after one year was a bit of a surprise to me, given the early experience.
me), try to keep your fermentation temps low (aim for less than 70 degrees, and lower if you can),

Reading the satsuma link there is a mention of bitter flavors and I laugh with “remarkable adjectives “ from MJD above.
I put together a dandelion with a citrus back bone last year, it has the same type of flavors, bitter / rough. Have wondered if it is worth the effort to bottle, , with the hope it gets better? , , OR leave it in the gallon glass and hope it gets better? , , Or give up and dump it?

 

[MJD]

I really hesitate to dump any wine unless it is just absolutely intolerable with zero redeeming qualities. I'd advise you to age it out, with the following caveats:
If you A) got too much of the white citrus pit in the must or B) included a lot of dandelion green material in the wine,
you might have the bitter flavor for quite some time.
I'd tell you to continue to bulk age or bottle and age for a while more. I have dandelion wine that has gone 3 years without a significant loss of flavor; the price of aging beyond 2 years is a potential loss of flavor, resulting in a more muted wine...but that's not the end of the world
I'd be inclined to bottle it, if nothing else than to not have to remember to check to see if the airlock still has liquid in it!