Starfruit wine a disappointment

[Stressbaby]

My second-ever batch of wine was 2 gallons of starfruit, made according to Jack Keller's recipe with 3.5 pounds of fruit per gallon and using a lemon instead of acid blend (per the recipe). I backsweetened with 50g sugar/gallon and also added a small f-pac. We are at the 1 year mark and having a beautiful day outside yesterday afternoon we opened the first bottle and I was really disappointed.

The wine is too dry, I didn't backsweeten enough. Either because of that or because of the recipe, the starfruit flavor is too subtle. And there is no bite at all (I made this batch prior to getting pH testing equipment).

I have 8 bottles left. I was kicking around the idea of dumping them back in a carboy, upping the sugar, maybe a wee bit of citric acid, and rebottling. Thoughts?

 

[Turock]

Citric acid sounds like a good idea. When you have a flabby wine like the starfruit, you'd be amazed how acid can bring the flavor forward--if the wine's not too dilute. When you do that, start with just a few grains of the acid--stir, taste, repeat as needed.

I've never worked with starfruit but, as with many fruit wines, eliminating or drastically reducing water content makes a better wine. And as you're learning-- always PH test and adjust pre-ferment.

 

[Luc]

My second-ever batch of wine was 2 gallons of starfruit, made according to Jack Keller's recipe with 3.5 pounds of fruit per gallon and using a lemon instead of acid blend (per the recipe).

Lesson learned !!!

This is exact the reason why I always tell people to make the wine from scratch and never use a recipe.
Fruit may vary from season to season and sugar levels, acid levels and flavor may vary enormously.

Next time start with tasting the fruit and measure SG and acid levels. From that point on make your own calculations and recipe.
There are enough examples on my web-log that demonstrate this.

Luc