Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

Greetings,

I just subscribed to this group and have some questions. I am in the
midst of making my first batch of wine using a kit but am interested
in making fruit wine and am currently reading the book "The Joy of
Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey.

I notice most of her recipes call for ageing of a minimum of 6 months
to a year. The (grape) wine (White Zinfandel) I am making now seems to
require about a couple of months from start to drink. I would like to
know what happens during this ageing process and can it be shortened
for non-grape fruit wines?

I would like to make several different kinds of fruit wines
(raspberry, peach, apple, raisin, etc...) a gallon at a time (say a
month apart) but if it takes 6 months to drink one I am reluctant to
start doing different ones till I taste the first one completed.

Thanks,
Mike

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

As wines age a number of things happen; tannins soften, acids react
with alcohol to form esters, intense fruit flavors become more
subdued, yeasty/edgy aromas and flavors go away, etc. The list could
go on and on.

In general, white, blush, and rosé wines only need a few months of
aging, reds need a year, and meads need a year or more.

The temperature you store wine at impacts how quickly it ages. A wine
stored at 37 degrees F won't age much at all, while a wine stored at
77 degrees will age too quickly. There may be a narrow range around 60
degrees F where you can use temperature to your advantage to expedite
the aging process just slightly. Some advocate cellaring at 61 degrees
over the more widely recommended 57 or 58 degrees in order to slightly
speed up the aging process. This may shave a few months off of long
term cellaring, but it won't do much to hurry up the process for you.

Your reluctance to start multiple batches is understandable, but the
issue is unavoidable. I suggest starting batches from several entirely
different recipes several months apart. In time you will find that
most turn out ok and a few are stellar. Don't worry much about the
inevitable bad batch. Just pay attention to sanitation and SO2 levels.

Greg G.

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

I can't answer your question directly, but let me tell you from my
experience.
I made a cranberry recipe in 2005, it still isn't quite ready, but
should be in 2009. I made an apple cider into wine in 2006 and it is now
ready. I've made blueberry, banana, peach, mango, papaya, strawberry and
others. All take at least a year. I've made 6 gallons and 1 gallons and
everything in between. In my opinion, 3 gallon is best, cause if it
turns out good - man, that 1 gallon goes fast. If you make 6+ gallons,
and it isn't so good, wow, it takes a while to get thru it. hahaha.

One thing to watch closely is - don't let it go "too dry", as it will
not be as tasty. When the S.G. gets down to 1.08-1.1, stop it and start
clearing for bottling. I let several go below .998 and they are not as
good - but make good for blending later with a sweet wine. I also make
some into Sangrias by adding Triple Sec, Rum and float fruit in them.
Good luck, and don't worry about waiting to taste, follow a recipe with
special care on keeping clean, and watch the S.G. Good luck!

DAve


mhorlick wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I just subscribed to this group and have some questions. I am in the
> midst of making my first batch of wine using a kit but am interested
> in making fruit wine and am currently reading the book "The Joy of
> Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey.
>
> I notice most of her recipes call for ageing of a minimum of 6 months
> to a year. The (grape) wine (White Zinfandel) I am making now seems to
> require about a couple of months from start to drink. I would like to
> know what happens during this ageing process and can it be shortened
> for non-grape fruit wines?
>
> I would like to make several different kinds of fruit wines
> (raspberry, peach, apple, raisin, etc...) a gallon at a time (say a
> month apart) but if it takes 6 months to drink one I am reluctant to
> start doing different ones till I taste the first one completed.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
>

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

Thank you Greg and Dave,

I like that tip about not letting it get too dry. Any idea about how
long it would take to get to 1.08-1.1? Should I check every couple of
days when in secondary fermenter?

I will start a gallon one and also look into getting a 3 gallon jug/
carboy.

Thanks again,

Mike

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

I just posted a recipe for rosepetal syrup.
Now I have made wine from this and at first it will taste
like how a rose smells and added to that some acid and alcohol.
But the wine I made last year from this tastes totally different.

Indeed the rosepetal taste is still there but faint in the background.
It is a nice mellow rose wine with distinct flavors.

Same goes for apple cider wine. Let it age at least for a year
and the wine will be much more subtle.

Almost all wine benefit from aging.
Difficult chemical processes will take place under the influence
of warmth and time.

For example.
Every winemaker knows how to make invert sugar by boiling granulated
sugar with some acid. It will split in glucose and fructose.
Now time does the same.
So if the wine ages and there is some residual sugar in it that
will split and the wine will get a bit more sweet.

Another thing is that esters form. These are bindings between alcohol and
acid, and give a complex flavor to the wine.

Tannins may drop out and let the wine mellow a bit

etc. etc. etc.

In the beginning when I started winemaking I was just like you.
Make the wine and drink it fast.
Then my girlfriend hid some wines somewhere I would not
find them. A few years later I found them and we tasted them:
what a difference !!!!

So from each batch I bottle nowadays at least half gets into the cellar
and the others are not consumed within the first 3 months.

Patience it the virtue here.
Remember we are not making beer but wine.

The best advise I can give you is: make more then it is easier
to age them.
And do not bottle, but leave them in the carboy. That way you
will not be tempted to drink them.

Luc

http://www.wijnmaker.blogspot.com/

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

On Jun 5, 7:20*pm, mhorlick > wrote:
> Thank you Greg and Dave,
>
> I like that tip about not letting it get too dry. Any idea about how
> long it would take to get to 1.08-1.1? Should I check every couple of
> days when in secondary fermenter?
>
> I will start a gallon one and also look into getting a 3 gallon *jug/
> carboy.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Mike

Just to be safe here, I'm pretty sure Dave meant 1.008-1.010, not
1.080-1.100.

Pp

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

pp wrote:
> On Jun 5, 7:20 pm, mhorlick > wrote:
>> Thank you Greg and Dave,
>>
>> I like that tip about not letting it get too dry. Any idea about how
>> long it would take to get to 1.08-1.1? Should I check every couple of
>> days when in secondary fermenter?
>>
>> I will start a gallon one and also look into getting a 3 gallon jug/
>> carboy.
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> Mike
>
> Just to be safe here, I'm pretty sure Dave meant 1.008-1.010, not
> 1.080-1.100.
>
> Pp

Oh, gosh. yes. 1.008-1.010 I meant.

Check it every 3 days after the 7-8 days. DAve

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

Mike,
I make only fruit, veggie, and herb wines - have been at it for about 7
years or so. And I do follow Terry Garey's book - the info given is good.
Strawberry wine is the quickest fruit wine to make and drink - under a year.
Blackberry takes over a year, but it is worth it. I don't know that you can
do anything to shorten the process. I don't mind letting you know how things
turned out for me with some of my fruit wines - it's up to you, but Garey's
book is my resource. A lot depends on the type of wine you like, as to what
type of fruit wines you'll like or how to make them so you'll like what
you've made. Let me know.
Darlene


"mhorlick" > wrote in message
...
> Greetings,
>
> I just subscribed to this group and have some questions. I am in the
> midst of making my first batch of wine using a kit but am interested
> in making fruit wine and am currently reading the book "The Joy of
> Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey.
>
> I notice most of her recipes call for ageing of a minimum of 6 months
> to a year. The (grape) wine (White Zinfandel) I am making now seems to
> require about a couple of months from start to drink. I would like to
> know what happens during this ageing process and can it be shortened
> for non-grape fruit wines?
>
> I would like to make several different kinds of fruit wines
> (raspberry, peach, apple, raisin, etc...) a gallon at a time (say a
> month apart) but if it takes 6 months to drink one I am reluctant to
> start doing different ones till I taste the first one completed.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
>

Ageing and Fruit Wines
 

Darlene wrote:
> Mike,
> I make only fruit, veggie, and herb wines - have been at it for about
> 7 years or so. And I do follow Terry Garey's book - the info given is
> good. Strawberry wine is the quickest fruit wine to make and drink -
> under a year. Blackberry takes over a year, but it is worth it. I
> don't know that you can do anything to shorten the process. I don't
> mind letting you know how things turned out for me with some of my
> fruit wines - it's up to you, but Garey's book is my resource. A lot
> depends on the type of wine you like, as to what type of fruit wines
> you'll like or how to make them so you'll like what you've made. Let
> me know. Darlene
>

I also only brew what ould be termed "country" wines rather than grape wines
and although I have been at it for many years I wouldn't put myself up as
being an expert in comparison with what I have read whilst lurking in this
group.

I haven't really found any way round aging wines. Some wines do mature
quicker, whites as others have said, reds seem to take longer. I have
discovered a bottle of elderberry which had been sat in the back of a
cupboard for 5 years and it was absolutely divine, almost too good to drink
(but not quite!). One exception I found was red currant wine. I bottled this
after leaving it in the fermenting vessel for 3 months and it was good
enough to drink then.

Somewhere I have a book on express winemaking. I'll dig it out and see what
it says.