Cellar Craft trying to get creative

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fish

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making a cab sav in cellar craft and was wondering if i could add raisins or blue berrys or plums, to the initial mix to give more flav and body, if i do will i need to add more water to the mix???????? what are the general rules with adding extras, thanks heaps dudes
regards fish.
sydney australia
 
I wouldnt add extra water, is this one of the smaller kits though as I wouldnt go playing around with 1 of the better grape skin kits. Id go with Blueberries or Raisins but the raisins will really only add body to the wine unless you use lot.
 
I've recently done 2 of the cellar craft merlot kits.. I added a kilo of chopped raisins and the strained juice of a dozen bananas boiled in 2 litres of water. To up the body and give it more mouthfeel. The fermentation will take a bit longer so be patient .. but the resulting wine will be thicker and softer. as you are doing cab sav you'll have oak chips as well. I think the oak chips they throw in the kits aren't particularly heavy so you could buy another packet and chuck half of that in too.

Allie
 
You can also add Blueberry to the secondary after you added your k-meta and sorbate as a f-pac. I did that to my Chilean Pinot Noir and made it a Pinot Noir / Blueberry.
 
kit type

it is a 23 litre or 30 bottle kit , i will go with the kilo of raisins, i assume its ok just to dump them in with the concentrated grapes in the cloth sack???, should i mash them up a bit first???, can i also add the blueberrys at second ferment or will this be too much. thanks.
fish,
sydney australia
 
I chop them ( raisins) and don't bag them , add to primary.. that's your call Sydney. Yes I am making a 30 bottle kit.
Tom is adding blueberries after you ferment to dry, stabilise and at the f pac addition stage.

Personally for red wine kits , I prefer to add frozen blackberries..rather than blueberries, because blueberries are difficult to ferment and blackberries give a wonderful depth to a red wine.

blueberries are really expensive in NZ and Australia also

Allie
 
it is a 23 litre or 30 bottle kit , i will go with the kilo of raisins, i assume its ok just to dump them in with the concentrated grapes in the cloth sack???, should i mash them up a bit first???, can i also add the blueberrys at second ferment or will this be too much. thanks.
fish,
sydney australia

Raisins are likely treated with sulphite.
So first rinse them well with hot water, next rinse them again
then soak them overnight.
They will have swollen by then and can be easily chopped up.

Read the complete story here:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/11/rozijnen-raisins.html

Be aware that they will add some sugar (although a kilo is not al lot on 23 liter) and they can impart an oxidised taste as raisins have oxidised.

Also beware that blueberries are a natural source of benzoate. So they might hinder fermentation.

Luc
 
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making a cab sav in cellar craft and was wondering if i could add raisins or blue berrys or plums, to the initial mix to give more flav and body, if i do will i need to add more water to the mix???????? what are the general rules with adding extras, thanks heaps dudes
regards fish.
sydney australia

To be honest, I have given up on many of the "rules" where adding stuff in is concerned. If you think something may not work, make a small amount first and see how it ferments.
 
right im gonna go with chopped raisins and blackberries but still not sure when to add them. what is fpac, did not fully understand what you said there, but great help thanks
 
I always add frozen blackberries because I never pick enough before I am scratched to hell for a descent size batch. so I use them as add to heavy reds and concord
 
put your raisins and your blackberries in the primary same day you start the kit.

you'll be surprised at the difference it will make.. oh and if you have a couple of old bananas to use up .. boil those up and add the juice too.

Allie
 
put your raisins and your blackberries in the primary same day you start the kit.

you'll be surprised at the difference it will make.. oh and if you have a couple of old bananas to use up .. boil those up and add the juice too.

Allie

good info here. as allie stated, raisens add mainly just body. blackberry merlot is one of my favorite wines, so obviously i'm going to agree there. IMO, red wine (atleast merlot for me) and blackberries taste great together. we have not used bananas, yet, but my father always talks about using them to add body. I'm not sure how they might affect taste, but i do like bananas. :p

i like to add most everything at the start because the yeast seems to work at and pull more flavor out that way. freezing fruits also helps extract flavor.
 

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