Wine concentrate + juice base ?

[Brewgrrrl]

Okay - this is a more generic restating of a previous question that I'd really like feedback about. I've made wine kits, wine from juice, meads/melomels, and various fruit wines. I've become curious about the various possibilities of making a blended wine from the combination of a grape juice concentrate (e.g. chardonnay, chenin blanc, etc.) and a juice puree or fruit base.


Does anyone have a favorite recipe for doing this type of concentrate-fruit blend?


I recently started a peach chenin blanc and I'm curious about how it might turn out. Also, in a fit of creativity or craziness, when I racked my juice batch of pinot grigio about a week ago I racked 5 gallons into a carboy and put the last gallon over 3lbs of blueberries I'd previously frozen and thawed.


I'd really like to hear about others' experiences with these types of blends. Thanks.

 

[vcasey]

I'm sure by now you've realized I like to experiment just a bit. I've blended carlos grapes with peach and noble grapes with blue & blackberries. Gosh knows why I have not thought of pulling off a gallon from a kit to play, I sure do that often enough with my homemade out of the box stuff.
I may just need to think about this, could be an idea for our Christmas wine give away for next year. Lets see Berry Christmas with blue, black & strawberries and what kit? Any suggestions.
BTW its not craziness, look at all the mist type kits and all the folks that use the kits to make pyments.
VC

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Yes, I was thinking of kits and pyments when I started my recent concoctions. I'm more comfortable blending fresh pinot juice with fresh blueberries than I am blending stuff from two cans though...

Love the Berry Merry Christmas idea though. Maybe adding it to a red wine that sometimes has berry tones to it, like a merlot? When I chose the peach chenin blanc experiment, I read through a bunch of wine descriptions and tried to imagine what would go best with a peach flavor. Here's hoping...

 

[Casper]

When it istime to make fruit wine/port usually around September for me or when my freezer is too full, I always buy a wine kit and put 4 cups into the primary fermenter. This year my kit chose is Chianti. I open the kit to blend witha must (4 cups) and Ijust put the rest of the kit in the freezer (the concentrate juice does not freeze)for the next fruit batch.Last couple months I made Blackberry port/wine, Raspberry Port/wine, tri berry Port,chocolate raspberry portand all of them I put 4 cups of Chianti for 23 liter recipes.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><O></O><O></O>

 

[Brewgrrrl]

What a great idea! How much fruit do you usually use for the 23 liter recipes?

 

[Casper]

What a great idea! How much fruit do you usually use for the 23 liter recipes?

It depend the fruit and the type of wine I am making.


Raspberry wine: 35to 40Lbs
Blackberry wine:30 Lbs
Blackberry port: About 80 Lbs (that because I only use the juice from the berry no water add)
Raspberry Port: 40 to 45Lbs


Thats the way I like it, for some other poeple they may use less or more.


Like the blackberry wine some poeple only use 20 Lbs

 

[Casper]

I was not using that much raspberry before, but after visiting wine country winery in BC and reading an article in WineMakerMag( http://www.winemakermag.com/component/resource/article/579-raspberry-wine-tips-from-the-pros) I decided to use more berries and I don't regret it.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Thanks for the article! I especially liked this tip (which I had not thought of doing before):


"I think the best process for back-sweetening is to take a little bit of wine off, add the sugar, then add that solution back to the batch. It makes for a better product, and you don’t need additional water for dissolving the sugar."

 

[Brewgrrrl]

I finally bottled this peach chenin blanc BTW and it is YUMMY - I'm really happy with the experiment. Also, even though the fruit was added to the chenin blanc concentrate in the primary, there is still a lovely peach nose and flavor and it is a very well-balanced wine.

 

[vcasey]

Glad this turned out well for you - Experimenting in fun

 

[Waldo]

I love experimenting and blending. I currently am bulk aging a Blackberry/Merlot kit I belnded with a Cellar Craft Port kit during fermentation. I have done a Shiraz/Muscat blend, Muscadine/Black Currant, Rasberry/Apple, etc, etc, etc
Its fun and rewarding

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Yum. Those all sound delicious, Waldo!
I'm so happy with this peach chenin blanc I am struggling mightily with the urge to start several more blended batches. What to do, what to do...

 

[Brewgrrrl]

BTW - the gallon of blueberry pinot grigio I mentioned earlier in this thread also turned out really well. I plan on buying some more fresh juice in the fall and adding whatever fruits I've collected/frozen this summer. Bwah-ha-ha...