Anais - Did I understand from your journal that you make cherry wine?  You make it from the actual fruit (not concentrate)?

My hubby makes wine - lots and lots of wine.  Most of it is from grape concentrates that have already been blended for the right types of wine, but he has made cherry wine from the neighbor's cherry tree.  So far I have a hard time drinking the cherry wine.  It reminds me tooooooo much of the cherry-flavored, alcohol-based medicines I had to take as a kid.  I LOVE all the other wines hubby makes.

Anyone else out there make wine?  Enjoy wine?  What are your favorites?  

[Disclaimer:  this subject is primarily intended for those who are of legal drinking age - I don't want to be accused of promoting underage drinking!]

Banfi's super Tuscan, Cum Laude!  YUM!  And of course, I'll drink all the Moet Brut I can get my hands on ;)

<hic>

:x

'scuse me =)

Hi Bikerbraid,

Actually, I have never tried making wine out of fresh hand-picked cherries. We picked some Lamberts this year (the only kind left after the seasonal rush) but we're not sure how cherry-winemaking is going to be different. Yesterday I got so enthuzed about trying the process at once, but it was too late to start anything by the time we got home.

At our house we're used to making rice wines... once successful with the gigantic seeded grapes.. but that was only once, a very lucky once, and gave us a rose-colored strong and sweet result. All in all, I'm still an amateur when it comes to making fruit wines. Any tips are greatly appreciated. and Otima Porto is something we wish we knew how to make at home.

oh, and yesterday I sighted my first live recumbent! (few in this area)

Anais

WOW- a LIVE recumbent, I've never seen a live bike - just live riders!  (sorry I couldn't resist)

I'll see if I can find some of the info that hubby used for making the cherry wine.  Most fruit wines use a grape base and the fruit puree is added after the primary fermentation.  I think he used a white merlot base for the cherry wine.  We've had lots of fun trying to make different wines and making adjustments (adding more sugar to increase the alcohol content, flower petals for a different bouquet and taste, hardwood chips for flavor, etc).

And Rapunzel - do we need to supervise your drinking? Or is that when you get your design inspirations?

Thanks Bikerbraid.... like I said, anything at all would be helpful. I'm thinking of starting from scratch with cherries, water, wine yeast, yeast nutrient, the works. Although.... using the white merlot as a base would be a lot easier. There are a lot of websites on homemade winemaking, but... guess I gotta try it sometime in the next week and see how things turn out.

Anais

I used to work with a girl who made fruit wines from scratch - her pear wine was as crisp and clean as any chablis!

I myself have never got around to trying, although I do make mead from time to time. Properly brewed (i.e. without residual sugar on a par with cream soda), a dry mead is simply scrumptious! The various types of honey really make a difference in the final flavor - although sometimes it's not what you'd expect. For example, think about how a raspberry would taste if you remove the sweetness.

Ooooo, you guys are getting me all inspired again!

/Kate

Here are some links I found:

http://www.finevinewines.com/Recipes/Cherry_Recipe.asp

http://www.homebrewit.com/reccherry.php

I would think that wine tasting like cough medicine would be a result of using too large a quantity of strong-flavored cherries. That, and the wine being too sweet.

I would think that freezing fruit would aid in crushing it and make it ferment more quickly.

Thanks eKatherine : )
I hear that freezing certain fruits, namely berries, helps quicken the clearing process.
and Kate, we hope to get you inspired some more!

Anais

wrote on Jul 29^th, 2004 at 7:15pm:

And Rapunzel - do we need to supervise your drinking? Or is that when you get your design inspirations?

Moi?  O:)

<hic>

:x

DH and I have made wine from apples several times.  If you like a dry white wine, it is great.

I do! Do you have a recipe you'd be willing to share?

/Kate

wrote on Aug 12^th, 2004 at 12:54am:

DH and I have made wine from apples several times.  If you like a dry white wine, it is great.

I'd love to try to make an apple wine.  What kind of apples did you use?  How many?  Details, details!  I need details!

OooOoooh... We have soo many apples around the house sometimes! This would be a great way to use them! I'm curious about your apple recipe too, Finchquilts...

Anais