What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?

I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
wine.

So what does work well?

In article > , "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
>I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
>book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
>wine.
>
>So what does work well?

North Star sour cherries make an absolutely stunning wine. Especially if you
let a couple gallons of it bulk-age for a year or two with a cinnamon stick at
the bottom of the carboy.

I've also had spectacular results from apricots, and slightly overripe
Bartlett pears.

I'll let you know in a few months how last year's batch of serviceberry wine
turned out. :-)

"Tom Kunich" > wrote in message
m...
> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> wine.
>
> So what does work well?
>
If you will go where I told you, you will have all the answers you need. It
does require registration.

On Feb 21, 9:55*pm, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> wine.
>
> So what does work well?

Lets see;
Apple
Strawberry
Blueberry
Pear
Peach
Pineapple
Apple Kiwi
Strawberry Kiwi
Apple Pear Passion Fruit
Kiwi

"Steve Peek" > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Tom Kunich" > wrote in message
> m...
>> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>>
>> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
>> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
>> wine.
>>
>> So what does work well?
>>
> If you will go where I told you, you will have all the answers you need.
> It does require registration.

I tried getting in there but for some reason it wouldn't accept my
registration.

"tepe" > wrote in message
...
> On Feb 21, 9:55 pm, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> > What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
> >
> > I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> > book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> > wine.
> >
> > So what does work well?
>
> Lets see;
> Apple
> Strawberry
> Blueberry
> Pear
> Peach
> Pineapple
> Apple Kiwi
> Strawberry Kiwi
> Apple Pear Passion Fruit
> Kiwi

Do you have a recipe for blueberry wine? Seems to me that stuff would be
essentially a very good wine since the fruit is very grape-like.

On Feb 22, 8:18*am, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> "tepe" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > On Feb 21, 9:55 pm, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> > > What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> > > I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> > > book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> > > wine.
>
> > > So what does work well?
>
> > Lets see;
> > Apple
> > Strawberry
> > Blueberry
> > Pear
> > Peach
> > Pineapple
> > Apple Kiwi
> > Strawberry Kiwi
> > Apple Pear Passion Fruit
> > Kiwi
>
> Do you have a recipe for blueberry wine? Seems to me that stuff would be
> essentially a very good wine since the fruit is very grape-like.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request227.asp

Read everything you can from Jack Keller's site. It will answer many
of your questions.

"shbailey" > wrote in message
...
> On Feb 22, 8:18 am, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> >
> > Do you have a recipe for blueberry wine? Seems to me that stuff would be
> > essentially a very good wine since the fruit is very grape-like.
>
> http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request227.asp
>
> Read everything you can from Jack Keller's site. It will answer many
> of your questions.

Look, I have Window's XP with all the latest updates in it - that means that
it doesn't work for crap anymore. The original issue worked pretty good. But
this one doesn't allow me to get around on Jack Keller's site very well - it
will stick here or there or simply not show that you can move to another
page.

We don't have probablems like that with "news." stuff.

On Feb 22, 9:18*am, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> "tepe" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Feb 21, 9:55 pm, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> > > What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> > > I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> > > book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> > > wine.
>
> > > So what does work well?
>
> > Lets see;
> > Apple
> > Strawberry
> > Blueberry
> > Pear
> > Peach
> > Pineapple
> > Apple Kiwi
> > Strawberry Kiwi
> > Apple Pear Passion Fruit
> > Kiwi
>
> Do you have a recipe for blueberry wine? Seems to me that stuff would be
> essentially a very good wine since the fruit is very grape-like.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

1st I do NOT like Jacks recipes. They are high in alcohol and VERY LOW
in fruit. Fruit wines should start no higher than 1.085 his are much
higher masking the fruit flavor.
As a rule I use 6#'s per gallon, Strawberries7-8#'s per gallon
Freeze fruit for a week. This will help break down the cell walls.
Put fruit in a straining bag
Note; if making 6 gallons you will need 2 fermenting buckets
Add water to level you want to make.
take some of that and heat up to dissolve sugar and bring to
1.080-1.085. Do this (adding sugar) before adding yeast and AFTER 24
hours on Pectic Enzyme. The PE will be extracting sugars from the
fruit.
(I like this caculator) http://www.xs4all.nl/~mpesgens/thwp/winecalc.html
to figure how much sugar.
Add Pectic Enzyme once fruit is thawed
Wait 24 hours before adding yeast (I like Cote des Blancs)
Once dry stabilize and add f-pac.
back sweeten to your taste.
This usually takes 6+ months to bottle.

"tepe" > wrote in message
...
> On Feb 22, 9:18 am, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> > "tepe" > wrote in message
> >
> > Do you have a recipe for blueberry wine? Seems to me that stuff would be
> > essentially a very good wine since the fruit is very grape-like.- Hide
> > quoted text -
>
> 1st I do NOT like Jacks recipes. They are high in alcohol and VERY LOW
> in fruit. Fruit wines should start no higher than 1.085 his are much
> higher masking the fruit flavor.
>
> As a rule I use 6#'s per gallon, Strawberries7-8#'s per gallon
> Freeze fruit for a week. This will help break down the cell walls.
>
> Put fruit in a straining bag Note; if making 6 gallons you will need 2
> fermenting buckets Add water to level you want to make.
> take some of that and heat up to dissolve sugar and bring to
> 1.080-1.085. Do this (adding sugar) before adding yeast and AFTER 24
> hours on Pectic Enzyme. The PE will be extracting sugars from the
> fruit.
>
> (I like this caculator) http://www.xs4all.nl/~mpesgens/thwp/winecalc.html
> to figure how much sugar.
> Add Pectic Enzyme once fruit is thawed
> Wait 24 hours before adding yeast (I like Cote des Blancs)
> Once dry stabilize and add f-pac.
> back sweeten to your taste.
> This usually takes 6+ months to bottle.

Now THIS is the sort of stuff I'm looking for.

In article > ,
"Tom Kunich" > wrote:

> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> wine.
>
> So what does work well?

Grapes have been known to work quite well.
--
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw>

"Billy" > wrote in message
...
> In article > ,
> "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>
>> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>>
>> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
>> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
>> wine.
>>
>> So what does work well?
>
> Grapes have been known to work quite well.

Do you suppose you could do a better job than the commercial high end
vintners on grape wine?

I'm pretty sure that I could do a better job than them on fruit wines
though.

In article > ,
"Tom Kunich" > wrote:

> "Billy" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article > ,
> > "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> >
> >> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
> >>
> >> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> >> book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> >> wine.
> >>
> >> So what does work well?
> >
> > Grapes have been known to work quite well.
>
> Do you suppose you could do a better job than the commercial high end
> vintners on grape wine?
Better? As well anyway, I have Gold Medals from the Sacramento Fair for
commercial wines. I made home made wines in '78, '79, '80 while I was
working for a winery in Sonoma County, since then I've worked in
wineries in the tasting room, cellar, and lab, and I had my own lable
from '81 to '90, when we went to Europe for a year. When we returned
I continued working for wineries. Presently, I'm working seasonally in a
winery lab, and spending the rest of my time gardening.
>
> I'm pretty sure that I could do a better job than them on fruit wines
> though.
I don't mean to be condescending, but fruit wines are usually sweet.
Sweetness covers flaws. Not that sweet wines are flawed, but cheap table
wines usually have some sweetness just for that reason.

You might check your local library for wine making books like

101 recipes for making wild wines at home : a step-by-step guide to
using herbs, fruits, and flowers / by John N. Peragine, Jr.
<http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Fruit...rence/dp/14414
50920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276087749&sr=8-1>

or

The Winemaker's answer book : solutions to every problem, answers to
every question / Alison Crowe.
<http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Makers-An...80176569/ref=p
d_sim_b_5>

Basically, you can make a wine with 21 - 24 brix solution, a pH of 3.6,
yeast food (can be a handful of raisons), and flavoring of choice.
--
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw>

"Billy" > wrote in message
...
> In article > ,
> "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>
>>
>> Do you suppose you could do a better job than the commercial high end
>> vintners on grape wine?
> Better? As well anyway, I have Gold Medals from the Sacramento Fair for
> commercial wines. I made home made wines in '78, '79, '80 while I was
> working for a winery in Sonoma County, since then I've worked in
> wineries in the tasting room, cellar, and lab, and I had my own lable
> from '81 to '90, when we went to Europe for a year. When we returned
> I continued working for wineries. Presently, I'm working seasonally in a
> winery lab, and spending the rest of my time gardening.

Plainly YOU are a professional. I assumed that most people on the group were
amatuer winemakers. Amatuers would probably have a problem matching your
skill levels.

>> I'm pretty sure that I could do a better job than them on fruit wines
>> though.
>
> I don't mean to be condescending, but fruit wines are usually sweet.
> Sweetness covers flaws. Not that sweet wines are flawed, but cheap table
> wines usually have some sweetness just for that reason.

While you are entirely correct, I'm sure, that doesn't mean that you CAN'T
make an excellent fruit wine.

> You might check your local library for wine making books like
>
> 101 recipes for making wild wines at home : a step-by-step guide to
> using herbs, fruits, and flowers / by John N. Peragine, Jr.
> <http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Fruit...rence/dp/14414
> 50920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276087749&sr=8-1>
>
> The Winemaker's answer book : solutions to every problem, answers to
> every question / Alison Crowe.
> <http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Makers-An...80176569/ref=p
> d_sim_b_5>
>
> Basically, you can make a wine with 21 - 24 brix solution, a pH of 3.6,
> yeast food (can be a handful of raisons), and flavoring of choice.

I have those books already.

It's nice having someone in the group who knows more than he thinks he does.

I make a cranberry-orange wine that is awesome. For 5 gallons:
22-25 lbs of cranberries. I rinse them and check through the
berries. I steam juice the berries in a stainless steel steam juicer
in batches for 1-1.5 hours each batch and collect the concentrated
juice and add chlorine-free boiling water to reconstitute to 5
gallons, in a 10 gallon bucket. While the mixture is hot, I add cane
sugar to the juice - 1 pound per each percent of alcohol I want. 13
pounds = 13% alcohol. Stir I use Lalvin RC 212 yeast. I ferment for
7 - 14 days. Then I add a teaspoon of Young Living Orange Essential
Oil (oil-gold.com) to the clean, sanitized, empty glass 5-gal carboy
and transfer (rack) the cranberry wine into the carboy. It is
important that the Orange essential oil goes in at this stage. If
earlier than 7 days it will prevent good fermentation. If after the
transfer, it ill not incorporate the flavor into the wine as
effectively. Do the secondary fermentation for 4 - 6 months in a 65 -
75 degree temp area. When finished fermenting, bottle, wait 6-12
months and enjoy.
Anine


On Feb 21, 8:11*pm, "Steve Peek" > wrote:
> "Tom Kunich" > wrote in message
>
> m...> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> > I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> > book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> > wine.
>
> > So what does work well?
>
> If you will go where I told you, you will have all the answers you need. It
> does require registration.

Wow - thanks.

"Gammagal" > wrote in message
...
I make a cranberry-orange wine that is awesome. For 5 gallons:
22-25 lbs of cranberries. I rinse them and check through the
berries. I steam juice the berries in a stainless steel steam juicer
in batches for 1-1.5 hours each batch and collect the concentrated
juice and add chlorine-free boiling water to reconstitute to 5
gallons, in a 10 gallon bucket. While the mixture is hot, I add cane
sugar to the juice - 1 pound per each percent of alcohol I want. 13
pounds = 13% alcohol. Stir I use Lalvin RC 212 yeast. I ferment for
7 - 14 days. Then I add a teaspoon of Young Living Orange Essential
Oil (oil-gold.com) to the clean, sanitized, empty glass 5-gal carboy
and transfer (rack) the cranberry wine into the carboy. It is
important that the Orange essential oil goes in at this stage. If
earlier than 7 days it will prevent good fermentation. If after the
transfer, it ill not incorporate the flavor into the wine as
effectively. Do the secondary fermentation for 4 - 6 months in a 65 -
75 degree temp area. When finished fermenting, bottle, wait 6-12
months and enjoy.
Anine


On Feb 21, 8:11 pm, "Steve Peek" > wrote:
> "Tom Kunich" > wrote in message
>
> m...> What fruits have
> you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>
> > I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in one
> > book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make good Orange
> > wine.
>
> > So what does work well?
>
> If you will go where I told you, you will have all the answers you need.
> It
> does require registration.

Fruit wines don't have to be sweet. I try to make most of my fruit
wines dry, as that is what I prefer. Higher alcohol wines, however,
need a bit of sweetness to balance the alcohol, or for some fruits,
the acidity. For the amateurs, me included, it is an art as well as a
science.
Gammagal

On Feb 23, 6:57*pm, "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
> "Billy" > wrote in message
>
> ....
>
> > In article > ,
> > "Tom Kunich" > wrote:
>
> >> Do you suppose you could do a better job than the commercial high end
> >> vintners on grape wine?
> > Better? As well anyway, I have Gold Medals from the Sacramento Fair for
> > commercial wines. I made home made wines in '78, '79, '80 while I was
> > working for a winery in Sonoma County, since then I've worked in
> > wineries in the tasting room, cellar, and lab, and I had my own lable
> > from '81 to '90, when we went to Europe for a year. When we returned
> > I continued working for wineries. Presently, I'm working seasonally in a
> > winery lab, and spending the rest of my time gardening.
>
> Plainly YOU are a professional. I assumed that most people on the group were
> amatuer winemakers. Amatuers would probably have a problem matching your
> skill levels.
>
> >> I'm pretty sure that I could do a better job than them on fruit wines
> >> though.
>
> > I don't mean to be condescending, but fruit wines are usually sweet.
> > Sweetness covers flaws. Not that sweet wines are flawed, but cheap table
> > wines usually have some sweetness just for that reason.
>
> While you are entirely correct, I'm sure, that doesn't mean that you CAN'T
> make an excellent fruit wine.
>
> > You might check your local library for wine making books like
>
> > 101 recipes for making wild wines at home : a step-by-step guide to
> > using herbs, fruits, and flowers / by John N. Peragine, Jr.
> > <http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Fruit...rence/dp/14414
> > 50920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276087749&sr=8-1>
>
> > The Winemaker's answer book : solutions to every problem, answers to
> > every question / Alison Crowe.
> > <http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Makers-An...80176569/ref=p
> > d_sim_b_5>
>
> > Basically, you can make a wine with 21 - 24 brix solution, a pH of 3.6,
> > yeast food (can be a handful of raisons), and flavoring of choice.
>
> I have those books already.
>
> It's nice having someone in the group who knows more than he thinks he does.

Doug Miller wrote:
> In article > , "Tom
> Kunich" > wrote:
>> What fruits have you used to make wine with and how did it turn out?
>>
>> I don't think my Orange wines are going to turn out very well and in
>> one book I read they sort of hinted that it is difficult to make
>> good Orange wine.
>>
>> So what does work well?
>
> North Star sour cherries make an absolutely stunning wine. Especially
> if you
> let a couple gallons of it bulk-age for a year or two with a cinnamon
> stick at
> the bottom of the carboy.
>
> I've also had spectacular results from apricots, and slightly overripe
> Bartlett pears.
>
> I'll let you know in a few months how last year's batch of
> serviceberry wine
> turned out. :-)

My plum and italian prune wines both came out great.

FWIW all of my white fruit wines have been pretty lousy apart from 3.
A canned pear wine I made that was very passable after 2 years, canned
strawberry and canned raspberry wine which are delicious. The
flavours have either been slightly off, or just not nice
particularly. In contrast, I haven't made a bad dark fruit wine yet
(apart from prune and a coffee mead which doesn't count!

All of the below aged 2 years before I drank much of them - although
the grape wine was amazingly good after 3 weeks fermentation and a
weeks fining...

The grape wine from my father in laws vine (14 years old in the
Midlands, UK) Now makes 3 gallons of staggeringly good rich and well
bodied wine. Oaked it is as good as anything I have ever drunk.

Blueberry wine can be insanely good too, as it blackcurrant wine.

Several of my cherry wines - from black cherry thru morello have been
very good and tasty using enough fruit and watching acidity.

Blackberry wine is great too with enough ripe fruit in the recipe.

My elderberry blackberry is my best and I make several gallons at a
time of that now. I am sitting on 250 bottles of it which I plan to
bottle age another 3 - 5 years at least. It is already more than 2.5
years old and getting better all the time.

Jim