What are some things you can add to your kit wine to change the taste?

[malisk]

For example, oak chips. I like the ease of kit wine (just started) but would also like to add a personal touch to my creations. What are other things you can add, and when do you add them/what is the process? I am asking about oak as well since I don't know how to do that.

If, say, I wanted to add a hint of blueberries, when would I add that and how to go about it?

Is it even possible to add crazy stuff down the road for different reasons (habanero peppers? Or would that not even ferment)? Part of the appeal of this to me is trying new things.

I realize this is a very broad question, so any help is appreciated.

 

[Rocky]

There are many things that you can add to your wine to give it a different and personal touch.

OAK If you like the taste of oak, add oak chips in primary. You can choose from American, Hungarian or French oak with a variety of "toasts" to them. If you REALLY like the taste of oak, you could use the chips in primary and either oak cubes or spirals in secondary. And if you were a squirrel in previous life, you could do all this and then age the wine in an active oak barrel.

FRUIT You could add a variety of fruits to the primary to extract some measure of flavor, such as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. I have "juiced" Granny Smith apples and added the juice to a Riesling in secondary fermentation, and it was great.

FRUIT BASES Vintner's Harvest Brand fruit bases come in a large (I think 96 oz) can and may be added to primary for a subtle flavor or used to back-sweeten wines that are fully fermented to dry.

FRUIT PUREES Oregon brand fruit purees can be used in much the same way as the fruit bases, above.

EXTRACTS A variety of extracts (usually a mixture of a particular natural flavor and alcohol) can be used to flavor wines. I have used lemon and orange extracts in some white wines and I have used almond extract in a Vin Santo sweet dessert wine that I made.

As far as hot peppers are concerned, though I have never used them, I would probably let them soak in the wine either in secondary or in bulk aging. All you want to pick up from them is the capsaicin in the pepper for the heat, I would imagine.

In any case, I would urge you to go slowly, think through what you are trying to do and, by all mean, BENCH TEST your idea. Try it with a bottle or two, not a batch. Also, keep good notes on what you did so you can repeat it (or not!). I will be branded a bit of a heretic for saying this, but I look at wine making a lot like cooking. Just as there is not one way to make pasta sauce, there is not just one way to make a particular wine.

 

[jswordy]

Oak leaves
Orange peels (zest)
Lemon peels (zest)
ReaLemon
Cinnamon
Salt
Pepper
Flavor extracts
Grains
Candies

...the list is as long as your imagination is broad...

 

[robie]

These are not actually "adding" anything to your wine, but the yeast strain utilized to ferment can make a big difference.

Running a kit wine through an oak barrel can make a huge difference.
Aging until the wine is truly mature is a very, very big issue.

 

[Rocky]

"Aging until the wine is truly mature is a very, very big issue."

...or in my case, an impossibility!

 

[robie]

"Aging until the wine is truly mature is a very, very big issue."

...or in my case, an impossibility!

You just need to make more wine, Rocky. Maybe you can get to a point where you are making it faster than you are drinking it.
I know you are not making and drinking 200 gallons each year... are you?

I have had to stop making reds. Other than summer reds, I just haven't made anything yet, which I feel I can drink before 2 years aging. Trouble is, we are planning on moving to California (Santa Rosa in Sonoma County) in about 18 months and I don't want to have to lug 1200 bottles along. Can you imagine how big a challenge that would be. I only have about 180 bottles left to drink between now and then, so I am OK, since we still drink a lot of box wine (Jack Tone Red) and other commercial wines.

I am still making Chardonnays, though. Those guys are very good after 6 to 8 months aging.

 

[TonyP]

I recently found a fly in my carboy. The wine gave me a buzz.

 

[malisk]

Thanks a lot everyone.


For my next kit wine (my second attempt at wine making at all) I have an interest in maybe adding 1 lb of cherries to primary fermentation for a chianti. Could someone outline the process I need to follow to ensure no spoilage or bacteria and proper fermentation if I literally buy these off the shelf from a grocery Mart?

 

[DoctorCAD]

Old socks
Shoe dirt
Pickles
Crawdads

All of these will alter the flavor. Might not be what you wanted, but it will alter it!!!

A K-Meta rinse will do for the spoilage question.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks a lot everyone.


For my next kit wine (my second attempt at wine making at all) I have an interest in maybe adding 1 lb of cherries to primary fermentation for a chianti. Could someone outline the process I need to follow to ensure no spoilage or bacteria and proper fermentation if I literally buy these off the shelf from a grocery Mart?

What I have done is to take the fruit (I had two pounds of backberries in a Cabernet Sauvignon), rinse them and crush them with a potato masher. I put them in a pot on the range and apply heat to help break down the cellular walls allowing for better extraction. I covered the pot and let it on a low simmer for about 20 minutes to kill any bacteria then removed the lid and boiled off some of the water. After cooling to about 100 degrees, I put the fruit in a bag, being careful to capture any juice. I added the bag to the primary fermenter, dumped in the left over juice and stirred the mixture well. This raised the temperature in the fermenter but not to a fatal level for the yeast so that is when I pitched it.

In your case, with cherries, there is the question of the pits. If you use straining bad, no problem. If you do not, the pits will eventually work their way to the bottom of the primary. I recommend the bag and suggest that you give the bag a good squeeze two or three times per day. Good luck with your project. Sounds like it will be great.

 

[joeswine]

How to change a wine

JUST YOUR IMAGINATION

 

[malisk]

Well, I did exactly that, except I used 3 lbs of cherries. I followed your instructions (rinse, smash, simmer, etc) threw em in the bag and added them to my Vino Italiano must mixture. I added the spring water to them first to bring the temperature down and pitched the yeast at 68 degrees. Here's to hoping it goes well, I went OCD style with sanitizing.

 

[tonyt]

Thanks a lot everyone.


For my next kit wine (my second attempt at wine making at all) I have an interest in maybe adding 1 lb of cherries to primary fermentation for a chianti. Could someone outline the process I need to follow to ensure no spoilage or bacteria and proper fermentation if I literally buy these off the shelf from a grocery Mart?

I did just that in an Amarone. I added about a half pound of dried cherries. I rinsed then to remove any sulfites sugars or salts then just dumped them in primary after fermentation started. I was very pleased with the results.

 

[Boatboy24]

I did just that in an Amarone. I added about a half pound of dried cherries. I rinsed then to remove any sulfites sugars or salts then just dumped them in primary after fermentation started. I was very pleased with the results.

I did similar with a CA Syrah - 3 or 4 ounces. The wine tastes amazing, but it has an "off" odor that I can only attribute to the cherries so far. It is diminishing, but slowly. I've also used dried blueberries and raisins. Now that I think about it, a put a few blueberries in that Syrah too.