Hi everyone im not a writer by any means so sorry so sloppy. What im calling about is im very new to home made wine. Its a good bit of info when your very uneducated on the subject but im sure im starting to understand some. So my hardest question yet is which fruit to try. Im from south louisiana so basic fruits are available. We have locals like satsuma oranges which arre really sweet and delicious. My wife and i are totally opposite so its hard to appease both of our interests. This project is mainly my baby so we have decided to use just one fruit instead of a combo(her idea). I definitly want to include her in it, i think it is sort of romantic right.Weeks have gone buy i have recieved all of my equipment from Fine Vines Wines which are excellent and very helpful dealers. I have read many recipes and articles;blogs,books,mags,websites(Jack Keller is awesome). And yet at the end of the day when i turn off the P.C. close the books and mags. I still lie awake at night obsessive becauseI neverstart anything without knowing the ins and out completly. I am extremely excited about opening my first bottle after work one evening. THe babies will be gone and my wife and I can sit on the porchand enjoy the fruit of our labors. Ultimatley I just need someone to talk to get answers out of.I need someone to share their wisdom instead of just reaading concrete instructions. Thank you luke
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- Thread starter kaluba
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Welcome Luke, you really need to figure out what fruit you both like the most but i must say to stray from melons as they are quite difficult to get good results from. We will help you through what ever you need and advise on recipes but you must start this endeavor as its your wine and we can not know what fruit you would like. Pick a fruit and we'll be ready, there are many seasoned wine makers eager to help you in whatever questions you have. Record all info like recipe, what you did and when just in case you run into a problem, this way we can figure out what happened and resolve the problem which most likely will not happen. Most importantly, record all this info so when you make an awesome wine you can repeat it.
Hey Man thanks for calling. I need people to talk to. I am still thinking about what fruit ill will try. I might be taking so much time wondering about the level of difficulty per fruit. Such as pressing for juice and adjusting PH bal. Also adjusting for sugar balance. Do you think to much thought can be put into it. Should i just get crazy and just pick something,im not a picky eater so taste shouldnt be a factor. i appreciate everything for what it really is.or should i be cautious.
Most fruits you just put into a fermenting bag and add pectic enzyme which breaks the fruit up. Ill post a picture below of what the fruit looks like in a bag before and after. This was 18 lbs os raspberries and as you can see after 10 days there wasnt much of the fruit left to be consumed. I do think you are thinking to much as it really isnt hard to make wine. If I can do it, and I havent had a bad batch yet, anyone can do it. There will be a few wines here and there that arent very good when done but given time, say 6 months to a year, and thats really when a wine should start to come around any way, they become very drinkable. Just trying to say that if at first it does not taste good, give it time. there are a few that will be good at time of bottling and those are typically the 1's that are sweetened back after fermentation. Lets get some batches going and put that equipment kit to use. Its not doing any good sitting there empty and those wines arent going to start aging until there already made.
Edited by: wade
Edited by: wade
PolishWineP
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It is so hard being new to making wine!
Whatever fruit you choose, it will be just fine. The thing to remember about fruit wines is, don't rush it. They need LOTS of time to age. If you want something to drink while your fruit wines are aging, get a kit. We do both kits and country, along with meads, and it keeps us going on all fronts. Let the better half choose the first fruit, then you choose the 2nd fruit, then make a kit, and just keep adding to your cellar. Kit wines will be done far sooner than your country wines. Some of our wines are a good 18 months from start to tasting decent. 2 years before they are good. Bulk aging keeps the new wine maker from drinking a wine too soon. But, if you can put them out of sight, out of mind, they can age just as well in the bottle.
