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Neil

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I typically make country fruit wines. In a given year a couple of staples we know we like and a few experimental ones that seem popular and worth a try. Sometimes they are good, sometimes not so good.

I currently have a couple of experimental batches - Banana, Blueberry and Pineapple which I tasted when racking them. They are only a few months old, so very new/young. I am curious how much I should expect the taste to change? Currently I don't like the flavor of any of them! None of them have "off" flavors, just not really something I enjoy.

So how much should I expect the taste to change? I know there is no downside to just putting them in a corner and letting them age, so I am not likely to throw them out. What do folks think about those flavors? Any one made them and enjoyed them? What is Banana Wine supposed to taste like ( I used about 7lb/gallon as I was not looking for alcoholic banana cordial)?

Thanks
Neil
 
Hiya Neil and welcome. I think salcoco probably has hit the mark. Most country wines really do need some back sweetening for the fruit flavors to push forward. Don't forget that most fruit (unlike wine grapes may contain something like a pound of fruit sugars per gallon of expressed juice. Likely you are adding more sugar to increase the fermentables from about 1.050 to about 1.090 but that addition of sugar is not going to add more fruit flavor. Moreover, if you ferment fruit and not the expressed juice you might be using about - what 3-5 lbs of fruit to which you add a fair amount of water and water does not add flavor so with country wines you need to do whatever it takes to force the flavors present to come to the front and a perception of sweetness helps that - I think because we associate the fruit with sweetness.
 
normal, a young wine will have CO2 therefore it still has bitter notes.
Sometimes they are good, sometimes not so good. . . . I currently have a couple of experimental batches - Banana, Blueberry and Pineapple which I tasted when racking them. They are only a few months old,. . . .So how much should I expect the taste to change?
* reading your post I think you are objecting to too sweet a balance, ,,,, yes? / "cordial"
when judging we have acid at the table so we can sprinkle a few grains in and try increasing the TA. Acid balances sweetness.
* tannins offer long mild to astringent to bitter flavors. My go to is crab apple juice, chestnut is at my local wine toys store and there are several other available from ScottLabs/ More Wine. FT blanc has a very mild flavor.
* with age and oxidation you will develop sharp back of the throat flavor notes, I am sometimes surprised, as the butternut squash/ cranberry I didn't like half a year ago I would call woody/ smoky today and was reasonable when I served some to a cousin this week
* there are strong flavors as cranberry concentrate without sugar, adding a long lasting flavor can improve the balance


OH yes,,,, welcome to wine making talk
 
Thanks everyone.

As best I can tell there are no "spoil" flavors to the wines. They are clear and show no obvious issues. You are correct at present they are dry - and have not been backsweetened, which will certainly increase the fruit flavors and take out some of the younger acidity notes.

Both the Banana and Blueberry have a distinctive taste at this early stage - just not one I find appealing. I have read many times that a wine that is not enjoyable at 6 months is sometimes found to be very nice at 2 years. Unfortunately I don't currently have any 2 year old wines to compare.

My basic question was just how much should I expect the basic taste of a wine like banana to change over a period of say 1 year? Will the base taste change or will it just mellow and become rounder, less acidic and less tannin bite?

Did anyone actually like the taste of their Banana wine at the second racking?

I am trying to decide if I should be patient (I think that needs to be etched on every carboy) or blend some of it.

Thanks
 

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