# Christmas wine recipe



## Ikeya (Nov 11, 2020)

Looking for a good Christmas wine recipe. I just don't know how cloves, cinnamon, cranberries, nutmeg, etc... would work for fermenting.... can you use it from the beginning or add after. Use extracts? I just made a great strawberry pomegranate that could be turned into a good Christmas wine. I just need some help???


----------



## Raptor99 (Nov 13, 2020)

I plan to try this: Cranberry Clementine Christmas Wine - Celebration Generation It sounds really good. I washed and sorted some cranberries and stuck them in the freezer. I am currently working my way through a bag of clementines and saving the peels.


----------



## VinesnBines (Nov 14, 2020)

I made a nice wine with dried cranberries (Craisins) and dried Zante or Corinth grapes (packaged as black currants). It was almost a rose but very nice and dry. Some people argue that dried fruit is oxidized but I disagree.


----------



## balatonwine (Nov 14, 2020)

Mulled wine is a staple here in December. But I don't know anyone who "ferments" spices with the wine to make it. They simply add the spices to a finished normal wine and heat both together. They even sell the spices in packages for easy home made mulled wine.


----------



## Darrell Hawley (Nov 29, 2020)

I wish everyone a nice White Christmas.
And if you run out of the Whites, you can start on you're Reds.


----------



## Darrell Hawley (Dec 2, 2020)

Raptor99 said:


> I plan to try this: Cranberry Clementine Christmas Wine - Celebration Generation It sounds really good. I washed and sorted some cranberries and stuck them in the freezer. I am currently working my way through a bag of clementines and saving the peels.





Raptor99 said:


> I plan to try this: Cranberry Clementine Christmas Wine - Celebration Generation It sounds really good. I washed and sorted some cranberries and stuck them in the freezer. I am currently working my way through a bag of clementines and saving the peels.


Just a question on the recipe, they add 2 lb sugar to back sweeten but do not add sorbate for another 5-6 months. sounds like it would ferment all the sugar and still be dry with a higher abv.


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 2, 2020)

I started a batch of cranberry clementine wine on Monday. When I find a recipe online, I usually compare several similar recipes and create my own version. I increased the amount of cranberries and decreased the amount of sugar. Here is what I used for a 1-gallon batch:
• 3 lbs. fresh cranberries (frozen, thawed and rough chopped)
• Peels from 10 clementine oranges
• 1.5 lbs. sugar
• 1/2 lb. golden raisins
• 1/8 tsp tannin
• water to make 9 pints
• 1 Campden tablet
After 12 hours:
• 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
After 12 more hours:
• 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1/2 tsp. yeast energizer
• Lalvin K1-V1116

Initial Brix: 21 (potential ABV around 12%)
Initial pH: 2.78

Notes:
1. My pH meter is probably out of calibration, so it might be a little higher than that. It does not taste overly acidic. It is fermenting fine 24 hours after adding the yeast. I will check pH and taste it at the first racking. Normally I try to get pH around 3.4 or 3.5. But this wine might be more acidic.
2. I plan to add another 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient on day 3. Normally I add that all at the beginning, but because this is more acidic I wanted to give the yeast every advantage.
3. For sweetening, I usually brew my wine completely dry and then sweeten with Swerve. But you can add sorbate and sugar if you prefer.

I agree with your question about the recipe on the link. You need to add sorbate before you add sugar for sweetening.


----------



## Bossbaby (Dec 3, 2020)

how long would you age this wine b4 bottling?


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 3, 2020)

I usually bulk age for 4-5 months once fermentation has stopped. Then another few months in the bottles, depending on the type of fruit. My goal for the Christmas cranberry wine that I started this week is to drink it next year for Christmas. This is a good time of year to get cheap fresh cranberries, so if I like it I might brew this every year in Dec.


----------



## Bossbaby (Dec 4, 2020)

I've been buying fresh cranberries at the local market as they were on sale after Thanksgiving, and freezing them but they just raised the price back up out of no where! $2.00 per 12oz,


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 4, 2020)

I got mine at Costco before Thanksgiving. $2.99 for a 2 lb. bag. But I don't know if they have them any more.


----------



## Vinobeau (Dec 5, 2020)

Bossbaby said:


> I've been buying fresh cranberries at the local market as they were on sale after Thanksgiving, and freezing them but they just raised the price back up out of no where! $2.00 per 12oz,


The local Aldi & Pig had them for 99 cents per 12 oz bag. The local stale food store has the canned berries for 25 cents!! Just made 5 gallons with those and added a few cloves to it.


----------



## Ikeya (Dec 5, 2020)

Yeah I bought 12oz bags for 50 cent each.... my freezer is full! Making wine and jam with it!!!


----------



## Bossbaby (Dec 5, 2020)

I live in the cranberry Capitol of wisconsin I shouldn't be paying a premium!


----------



## Paulietivo (Dec 6, 2020)

I live in Massachusetts and a friend has some cranberry boggs. 2 years ago we made some cranberry wine and this year we did another batch. Salute!


----------



## DizzyIzzy (Dec 6, 2020)

Raptor99 said:


> I started a batch of cranberry clementine wine on Monday. When I find a recipe online, I usually compare several similar recipes and create my own version. I increased the amount of cranberries and decreased the amount of sugar. Here is what I used for a 1-gallon batch:
> • 3 lbs. fresh cranberries (frozen, thawed and rough chopped)
> • Peels from 10 clementine oranges
> • 1.5 lbs. sugar
> ...


I have copied your receipe, but what the heck is "Swerve"?....................................DizzyIzzy


----------



## sour_grapes (Dec 6, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> I have copied your receipe, but what the heck is "Swerve"?....................................DizzyIzzy



Sugar Replacements & Baking Mixes | Swerve


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 6, 2020)

Swerve is mostly Erythritol: FAQs | Swerve


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 6, 2020)

Yesterday I racked my Cranberry Clementine wine into secondary. I did not measure the pH, but the taste is a little too acidic. I think that earlier the sugar masked the acidic flavor. Now I am trying to decide what to use to top it off. If I use more cranberry juice the pH will probably still be too low. One option would be to use the cranberry juice and add a small amount of potassium bicarbonate to raise the pH. Normally I try not to use chemical means to raise the pH, but this might be an exception. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions.


----------



## Vinobeau (Dec 7, 2020)

Raptor99 said:


> Yesterday I racked my Cranberry Clementine wine into secondary. I did not measure the pH, but the taste is a little too acidic. I think that earlier the sugar masked the acidic flavor. Now I am trying to decide what to use to top it off. If I use more cranberry juice the pH will probably still be too low. One option would be to use the cranberry juice and add a small amount of potassium bicarbonate to raise the pH. Normally I try not to use chemical means to raise the pH, but this might be an exception. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions.



IMO, it depends on how you want your final product. Dry Cranberry wine is not my favorite, so after aging a bit and after adding Sorbitol, I would sweeten to taste and that should cut much of the over acidic taste.


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 7, 2020)

I plan to backsweeten it. I'll probably wait until it clears, then taste it and test the pH again.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 26, 2020)

Thanks @Raptor99 I just started our first Christmas wine following your modified recipe. I sweetened to 1.090 and the pH started at 2.9 but I edged it up to 3.2. Adding K1V1116 yeast this afternoon.


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 26, 2020)

I reached my cranberry clementine wine again. The pH was 2.88. That did not seem to inhibit the yeast (K1-V116), but it is a little too acidic for drinking. I added 1/8 tsp. of Potassium Bicarbonate to 1 gallon to raise the pH a little bit. The next time I rack I will measure it again. I want to adjust the pH a little bit at a time.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 27, 2020)

So I’m curious about nutrient addition in non-grape fruit wine.

In mead, @dmw_chef suggests 1/2 G per gallon of Fermaid K and O at 24, 48, 72 hours and then at 1/3 break for a total of 2 G per gallon. 

In grape wine making it appears (generally) to be something like DAP full dose at signs of fermentation. Then when 1/3 of the way through a half dose of Fermaid K and the same at 2/3 the way through (total of 1.5 G/gallon). If needed, Fermaid O below 1.030.

Is making other fruit wine closer to making grape wine? I feel an “it depends” coming...


----------



## Vinobeau (Dec 27, 2020)

I've been making fruit wine for 49 years and have always added all the dry ingredients together with the fruit and water, except for the yeast. Maybe twice the Cranberry wines have needed a second pack of yeast. I've never added Fermaid X,Y or Z, just the generic nutrient. Most recipes that I've read add it all at once.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 27, 2020)

I’ve just done about two hours of research on YAN variations and nutrient needs among fruits and the answer is definitely “it depends”. YAN varies widely by cultivar, year, climate, harvest date, and viticultural practices (like adding nitrogen to the soil or not), and nutrient addition to a must of any kind depends on both YAN and individual yeast needs. 

Cornell extension has some good information, as does University of Vermont. The Australian Wine Institute has some particular levels for grapes and a DAP calculator. Penn State has some great information in addition to a good explanation of why it’s bad to add DAP at the beginning of fermentation. Of course, WineMaker has a great explanation as well.

So... part science, part experience, part style. I haven’t found anything yet that gives a general range of where fruits land on the YAN scale, except for this article by the NYS AG Experimental Station in Geneva. It seems like GoFerm is helpful at the beginning and end of fermentation as are Fermaid products 1/3 and 2/3 through fermentations.

I don’t have access to YAN instruments, hence my original question in trying to determine what to add when, but it does sound like “it depends”. Too little nutrient will stress the yeast and cause delays or a stuck fermentation and H2S. Too much can cause a huge proliferation of yeast and then a stress when they run out of food and also excess food for other organisms if not enough sulfite is used at the end of fermentation.

There’s a lot of discussion about adding it all up front versus over the course of the fermentation. I believe these may be style or pragmatic points, at the moment. I’m still interested in what everyone does and how “other than grape” fruit wines fare in this arena.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 27, 2020)

Additional PDF from Scott Labs...


----------



## David Violante (Dec 27, 2020)

Couldn’t resist another by Penn State. I’ll stop now....


----------



## Raptor99 (Dec 27, 2020)

@David Violante thanks for sharing your research. For my fruit wines I usually add DAP at the same time as I add the yeast. I am getting ready to start my first batch of mead, so I am reading up on TOSNA and have purchased some Fermaid O. I don't know if using Fermaid O or TOSNA for fruit wine would make any difference in the final flavor. It would be an interesting experiment to make two otherwise identical batches to compare the effects of different approaches to nutrients.

It sounds like the ideal situation is for the yeast to run out of nutrients at the same time that it finished metabolizing all the sugar. I'm not sure how we can do that at home without the ability to measure YAN. I'm sure that different types of fruit and different amounts of fruit per gallon would require different amounts of nutrient.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 27, 2020)

@Raptor99 Take a look at the suggestions from @dmw_chef, @winemaker81, @BernardSmith and others in my thread Adding Body to Mead. It turned out so well...

I agree with your ideal situation.... I’m not sure how to do this either. I’m hoping that The Muses here will help to confer some practicality, experience and wisdom...


----------



## dmw_chef (Dec 27, 2020)

Advanced Nutrients in Meadmaking is a great accessible primer on YAN and nutrition that is likely also very applicable to grape and fruit winemaking in terms of the broad concepts. (It even cites some members here!)



David Violante said:


> In mead, @dmw_chef suggests 1/2 G per gallon of Fermaid K and O at 24, 48, 72 hours and then at 1/3 break for a total of 2 G per gallon.



Note: That's going to be dependent on yeast, OG, and YAN contributions from fruit. That schedule is for that OG, yeasts in QA23's YAN bracket, and the assumption that your must has <40 YAN as is. If you want a schedule that will push EC-1118 to 21-22% it's gonna be different. 



Raptor99 said:


> It sounds like the ideal situation is for the yeast to run out of nutrients at the same time that it finished metabolizing all the sugar.



I believe almost all YAN is ideally consumed by the time the yeast has finished the growth phase.


----------



## dmw_chef (Dec 27, 2020)

Raptor99 said:


> For my fruit wines I usually add DAP at the same time as I add the yeast.



Not a good idea. DAP at pitch can stress the yeast and create of flavors. I usually see it recommended to add DAP at 24h after pitch. 



Raptor99 said:


> I am getting ready to start my first batch of mead, so I am reading up on TOSNA and have purchased some Fermaid O.



TOSNA is a fine schedule that works well up to about 14%. After that, some of the assumptions it makes start to break down a bit; basically the hypothesis that I and some of my friends share is that it over estimates the effectiveness of Fermaid O, which is propped up by not including the YAN contribution of Go-Ferm in its calculations, a crutch that breaks down as you push to higher ABVs.


----------



## David Violante (Dec 28, 2020)

Thank you @dmw_chef for the Advanced Nutrients in Meadmaking paper. Great read...


----------



## Eric Huser (Dec 28, 2020)

I pitch yeast the next day, but always add everything else all at once. What I'm finding out about this wine gig is just like the brewing gig, most of what is taught and is considered gospel is just someone trying to make a very easy process, super difficult. 
ie - degassing, degassing for 10 to 30 minutes, adding nutrients on a hourly schedule, reracking 4 times, aging 1 year minimum, creating a yeast slurry. You get my point. These all do work great, but not needed in most cases.


----------



## David Violante (Jan 15, 2021)

Follow up~ tasted it just the other day to see how it was progressing and it tastes more like a grapefruit wine. Will the cranberry come through at some point? It’s nice and clear, very tart. I’ll have to back sweeten a little.


----------



## Ericphotoart (Aug 31, 2022)

It is an old thread but I wander how this Cranberry Clementine wine tastes now if you still tried after all those months. I would like to start this recipe in the next few days. I know you (Raptor99) noticed too much acidity at the beginning. I made a plain fresh Cranberry wine several months ago and it is still very acidic. I'm not sure how to deal with cranberry acidity. Maybe a small addition of another fruit would help?


----------



## Raptor99 (Aug 31, 2022)

We tried my cranberry clementine wine last year for thanksgiving. It was a huge hit with the family. I have a few bottles left, and I haven't tasted it for 6 months, so I need to give it a try again.

I started a new batch in Feb. this year, from fresh cranberries that I froze last Nov. This time I used orange zest instead of clementine peels. I think that that worked well. To adjust the acidity, I added a small amount of Potassium Bicarbonate, a little at a time, until the pH was up to about 3.2. When adjusting the acid, it is best to add a small amount of Potassium Bicarbonate, stir, and then wait 24 hours before re-checking the pH. Then you can add a little more if necessary.

Cranberry wine definitely needs to be backsweetened to be good. Even a very acidic wine can be good if you add a little more sugar. It sounds like your cranberry wine has finished fermenting, so I suggest you bench test some sugar additions. Take a small sample and add measured amounts of sugar until you like the flavor, Then you can calculate the amount of sugar needed for the entire batch.


----------



## Ericphotoart (Aug 31, 2022)

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely try this. My Cranberry wine is already bottled and everyone likes it but for me it's a little too acidic. Potassium Bicarbonate and ph meter is on my list.


----------



## Raptor99 (Aug 31, 2022)

Since it is already bottled, I suggest that you sweeten it a little in the glass. That might be all that you need. The advantage of that approach is that each person can sweeten it according to their own taste. It only takes a small amount of sugar to make a difference.

Coke is very acidic, probably more acidic than your cranberry wine. But we don't notice the acidity because of the sweetness.


----------



## winemanden (Sep 1, 2022)

*Christmas Pudding wine*​I found this recipe on the net. I haven't tried it, so I don't know what it's like.
*Ingredients:*

2lb of Christmas puddings
2 over ripe bananas
2kg granulated sugar
500g dark brown sugar
500g sultanas or raisins
1 tin of grapefruit segments
High alcohol / desert wine yeast
*Method:*
Slice and dice the Christmas pudding and add to a pan of boiling water, and add your sugar - both the granulated and the brown. Add the bananas (skins as well), the sultanas or raisins and the tine of grapefruit segments and simmer your concoction for about an hour.

Once your kitchen has filled with a Christmas aroma that will make you sing jingle bells, our the must into your sterilised fermentation bucket, top up with water to just over 2 gallons, and allow to cool before pitching in the yeast. 

BigDave K might like to have a look at this site, he has loads of recipes and videos.








Christmas Pudding Wine


Simple and tasty Christmas Pudding Wine



www.happyhomestead.co.uk







After 7 days of your wine fermenting in the primary vessel, strain off the juice into a demijohn and let it ferment further. By adding a teaspoon of sugar every couple of days and feeding the yeast, the wine will make the most of the high alcohol wine yeast that you have used, resulting in a wine that has more bang than the combined Christmas crackers on your festive table.

Keep on top of the racking process, the suet used in the Christmas pudding does continue to drop for quite some time and can cause off flavours if left. Allow to mature and bottle.

Sit back, relax and have a fantastic Christmas!


----------



## David Violante (Sep 2, 2022)

I have mine sitting in small bottles waiting for a holiday… LOL I think it’s pretty acidic from what I remember also. I backsweetened with honey in the glass, but try a few different things to see what you like. We recently had the experience of someone sweetening their coffee with brown sugar. I usually put honey in mine if I need to sweeten it. Neat taste each of those… 

I think you could also use a few different agents to make it less acidic, like yeast and MLF. And also drop the temperature for some time too. I just done like the taste or “mineral- ness” of using bicarbonate. Here’s an interesting article on some ways to drop the acid in wine making from the University of Minnesota’s *Northern Grapes Project*.


----------



## Raptor99 (Sep 2, 2022)

@David Violante Thanks for sharing that article. According to the article:


> The most important thing to remember about biological deacidification is that it only affects the malic acid portion of your wine’s total acidity, but does not reduce tartaric acid.


What acids are present in cranberries? I found this reference to a study: Readers ask: What kind of acid is in cranberry juice? - De Kooktips - Homepage - Beginpagina


> A key characteristic of cranberry juice is the low pH of 2.5 (Hong and Wrolstad, 1986) as well as the unique blend of the *organic acids, quinic, malic, shikimic, and citric acid* (Jensen et al., 2002), with quinic acid being the most preponderant of the four.



MLF will help to reduce the amount of malic acid, but it won't affect the other types of acid. So it might not be enough to reduce the acidity as much as you want.


----------



## David Violante (Sep 2, 2022)

@Raptor99 good find. Lalvin 71B also reduces malic acid. In a *Maine study* of cranberries, fresh had a higher concentration of quinic (64%) but in frozen, malic and citric are just about tied at 42%. It looks like it would take a multifaceted approach, and back-sweeten.


----------



## Raptor99 (Sep 2, 2022)

Interesting. The page I found claims that quinic acid is predominate based on a study by "Jensen et al., 2002." The study you found gives a comparison with a study by Hong & Wrolstad (1986) that found quinic acid to be predominate (39%), followed by citric acid (32%) and malic acid (27%) (p. 96). The author points out that her study is on wild cranberries, while Hong & Wrolstad studied commercial frozen cranberries. That suggests a possible reason for this large difference.


----------



## David Violante (Sep 3, 2022)

I’ve hijacked us to a side rabbit hole of wild fruit (maybe also into home grown) and commercially produced fruit and some of the differences. Very interesting… as a comparison I’ve always loved the small bananas you can find around the world and not the huge version we have here in the US. Those small ones have so much more flavor.

I think an answer to the question is to definitely back sweeten to taste. You could try different yeast strains and perhaps MLF and cold crash to varying levels of success, and of course a bicarbonate. Science and art. Thank you @Raptor99


----------



## GaDawg (Sep 3, 2022)

I have a RJ SPAGNOLS CRANBERRY CRAZE that I would like to make into a Christmas wine. I plan to add 4lbs of sugar as a simple syrup and 1/2 the F-pack to the primary. I would also like to add cinnamon and cloves, etc. How much should I add, and should it be added to the primary or after the wine cleanse?
Thank y’all for your help!


----------



## Jovimaple (Sep 3, 2022)

GaDawg said:


> I have a RJ SPAGNOLS CRANBERRY CRAZE that I would like to make into a Christmas wine. I plan to add 4lbs of sugar as a simple syrup and 1/2 the F-pack to the primary. I would also like to add cinnamon and cloves, etc. How much should I add, and should it be added to the primary or after the wine cleanse?
> Thank y’all for your help!


My only experience with adding spices to wine was an apple wine to which I added cinnamon and nutmeg during aging.

It was gross. It was only 1 gallon but it tasted plasticky because 2 whole nutmegs and 2 cinnamon sticks were way too much for 1 gallon.

My advice is to be very careful with the spices since you can always add more but you can't remove them once they're in the wine.


----------



## Raptor99 (Sep 3, 2022)

I would add the spices to the secondary, and as @Jovimaple says, be careful not to add too much. For my orange spice mead, I added to the secondary 1 cinnamon stick, 1 clove, and 1 whole allspice for 1 gallon. I wanted the spices to be fairly strong, so you might need to try less.

You can leave the spices in secondary for 2-3 weeks, and then add a little bit more if the spice flavor is not strong enough.

Wines wit spices usually taste better with some backsweetening.


----------

