Tart or sweet cherries?

[Mud]

My favorite garden center has Stella, Black Tartarian, and Bing cherry trees right now. All 3 are sweet types. Would they be suitable for wine, or is tart the ticket?

 

[summersolstice]

Always go with the tart.

 

[AlFulchino]

you could always addthe tart if need be, so i think the others are open to you as well..just my opinion

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Tart is the one I'd use.

 

[Mud]

Turned out I coudn't get a tart anyway. They were sold out for the year. Should have gotten in gear a little earlier. Anyway, I have 2 Montmorency cherries ordered from Cummins Nursery for next spring. In a couple years we'll see what difference it makes.

 

[St Allie]

sweet cherries have a higher sugar/water content and a very delicate flavour.

you could do a blend of both types.. tart cherries flavour will be stronger and survive the fermentation process better.

Allie

 

[Julie]

Turned out I coudn't get a tart anyway. They were sold out for the year. Should have gotten in gear a little earlier. Anyway, I have 2 Montmorency cherries ordered from Cummins Nursery for next spring. In a couple years we'll see what difference it makes.

Montmorency is what I have. I think I started to get cherries in year 2, not too many though. They are about 6 or 7 years old now and are loaded. I am currently holding my breath waiting for frost season to be over. I lost the cherries last year due to frost but the year before I was able to get a 5 gallon batch of wine plus some for cherry pies. The wine turned out pretty good and I was very new to wine making.

Oh, the birds LOVE the cherries, we bought an owl decoy that you can not believe how well it worked! Even the rabbits were afraid to go into that section of the yard.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I've got a couple small Bali cherry trees. Not enough fruit to make wine, just to eat fresh. It'll be a few years. Luckily, I've got a guy in the area who has two mature trees who doesn't use them. When I first asked if I could have them, he asked me what they were and if they were poisonous; he didn't even know they were cherry trees.