Tart cherry wine

[dbiss737]

I have harvested just over 5 pounds of tart cherries from my back yard tree (there will be more to come as long as the birds don't discover it first). They are cleaned, seeded and frozen and I'd obviously like to turn them into a sweet but tart cherry wine. I don't want to make a big batch, 3 gallons would be fine, but I think I need some sort of juice base for the wine. I've made wine from the neighbor's concord grapes, and I'll have those available later in the year, but I think the concord flavor would overpower the cherries. Any thoughts from anyone who has made a cherry wine?

Initially I planned to use the cherries to make a cherry wheat beer following Charlie Papazian's recipe for "cherries in the snow", but I haven't made a beer in quite a while. I'd rather make wine.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Goose]

Maybe try white grape, or pair with apple?

 

[fivebk]

I made a skeeter pee and added cherry and red raspberry to make a blush. I called it blushing skeeter and it is very good!!

BOB

 

[Goose]

Let us know what you end up going with and how it turns out! I have been picking and saving up some black raspberries and I have a relative with tart cherry trees! Sounds like a good combination!

 

[salcoco]

try about 5 lbs of cherry to one gallon of water. add one can frozen white grape concentrate for body. Check Jack Keller's web site for further additives to this base.
which include acid blend, sugar and tannins.

 

[dbiss737]

I thought about the white grape or apple. The skeeter pee sounds very interesting. I'll have lots of red raspberries later this summer and I may go that route. On the other hand, 5 pounds of cherries mixed with the white grape juice might be a winner. Maybe I'll do both. I'm up to about 7-8 pounds of cherries after picking today and the tree is still loaded. I never envisioned having so many cherries on one little tree. It's a great problem to have.

One way or another, these cherries are gonna get fermented. I'll keep you posted.

Dave

 

[hounddawg]

i.m a fan of blends
this may sound nuts, but can care less when pop open a fresh after bulk aging for minimal of 1 year aging, but 2 years is so much better,
I'd blend 1/2 sour cherries, 1/4 yellow Delius apples and 1/4 granny smith apples chope it all up freeze it for a couple weeks or so then dump everything together in your primary fermentation barrel and add tannings acid blind and so on by testing most always don't add the amounts the recipe calls for,
on that blend I'd use a 1118 yeast, get you a joint compound mixer (sheet rock mud mixer) and a 1/2 drill and stir the poo outta it for around 10 days, then press your pulp to get all the juice you can, I fill a 5 to 6 1/2 carboy then a couple gallon and half gallon just to top off each time , right now I'm getting ready to bottle 2 blends after 1 an 1/2 years bulk aging, the first blend is 1/2 blackberry,,,1/4 strawberry an 1/4 elderberry, my second blend is 3 lb yellow crabapples, 20 pounds granny smith apples and 20 lb pears.
I don't know about others but I love it,

 

[dbiss737]

The latest update on my cherry wine project:

I have now picked about 13 pounds of cherries from my hyperproductive "dwarf" tree. I'll probably get over 15 pounds when it's all said and done. So I'm going to follow one of the recipes I found for a pure tart cherry wine and hope to get 3 gallons yield. Much better than I'd hoped for. On the other hand, my concord grapes went from green to brown after getting about 6 inches of rain in the last week or so. Still hoping I don't lose them all. Raspberries are looking good though.