# Black Currant



## Wade E (Nov 25, 2008)

Got this started tonight. 2 cans per 6 gallons. added 5 1/2 cans of water instead of 7 like the instructions and 16 lbs of sugar as Im going with a slightly high abv and will finish off sweeter. Starting SG was 1.120 and used Cotes Des Blanc. Looking for a finished SG of around 1.015.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Nov 25, 2008)

That's a lot of sugar....Sweet 'thang' aren't you????
Will it be like a Port?????


----------



## Wade E (Nov 25, 2008)

No, just a higher abv wine with a little more sweetness, the black currant wine that is sold not too far from me has a abv about the same and a sg of about 1 035 and it is awesome but just a little too sweet to drink more then one decent glass of. I tend to like my fruit wines sweet like this, it really brings out the flavor. I like my red grape wines dry as a bone though!


----------



## Cracked Cork (Nov 26, 2008)

Wade, toss in some oak, it goes good with black currants. We are going to try steaming some we picked this summer to see how that turns out. Crackedcork


----------



## Wade E (Nov 26, 2008)

I will oak a gallon to see how that goes and Im sure it will be ice but want to keep most of it just the way it always comes out.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Nov 26, 2008)

Opened a bottle tonight of our Black Currant bottled March 2007....
Very nice indeed!!!! 
Glad I picked up another can..... will make a batch at some point this winter.

Recommend this one for everyone to try....


----------



## Wade E (Nov 26, 2008)

The only person Ive ever heard that didnt like it was K&amp;G I think and I was suprised but I guess not everyone can like the same thing.


----------



## K&GB (Nov 26, 2008)

Still waiting on mine to come around. I made the 3-gal batch with the bottle of WE red grape concentrate like NW uses. I also oaked it with two different American oak spirals for a week each. Finally printed out labels too. Now if I could just get the darn things to stick!


----------



## Wade E (Nov 26, 2008)

What kind of labels are you using and are the bottles cold? I found out the hard way that cold bottles and labels do not go well together!


----------



## K&GB (Nov 26, 2008)

I use the label paper I get from George. With my first batch, I sprayed the front with polyeurathane, but I used clear enamel with this batch. That may be the problem, or it may be that this was a defective batch of paper. Not sure. Bottles are plenty warm, around 75 degrees here indoors. 


BTW, very nice label you posted for yours. I'm ashamed to show mine, even if I could figure out how. The Print Artist program I use is a bit cheap and doesn't let me post the files on here.


----------



## Wade E (Nov 26, 2008)

Do you save them as jpegs? If you ever want I can probably post them for you. I just noticed that he has changed paper that he uses or at least the package has changed cause they used to be sold as a sheet and now they are sold packaged as 18 but they stuck well for me but I dont spray them at all. Lick them and stick them is what I do, you as well or do you sponge them?


----------



## K&GB (Nov 27, 2008)

No, the program doesn't give me the option to save files as JPEGS. As for the lables, I tried a sponge on the very first ones I made, but the ink ran badly as I smoothed the label on the bottle. That's when I started spraying them.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Nov 27, 2008)

I just use a glue stick on printed paper, cut them out on the paper guillotine ....Nothing fancy around here


----------



## Wade E (Nov 30, 2008)

Took an SG reading on this tonight, its @ 1.030 along with almost every wine I have started in the past 2 weeks and the funny thing is was that they were all started at different times with different yeasts and different volumes. I will rack this probably tomorrow and add the last 1/3 of nutrient to it. It smells incredible.


----------



## Wade E (Dec 7, 2008)

Okay, I guess I either should have stirred this before I racked or all the sugar thats left in this batch is floating at the top of the carboy as I just took a reading of this batch and it said 1.050 and when I took a reading last weekend it was 1.030!!!



Guess I should have stirred it but I do know thats what it read as it sunk pretty far down. Thats the 1st time to my knowledge that i got a false reading. Going to be an interesting batch.


----------



## Waldo (Dec 7, 2008)

There are several variables that could be at play here wade...primarily, how much wine did you have prior to taking the readings both times


----------



## Wade E (Dec 7, 2008)

Took long enough for that 1! I was waiting for it!


----------



## Wade E (Mar 2, 2009)

Bottled this yesterday and labeled and capped it today, Ill let it sit for another 2 days to make sure its sealed good then try and find somewhere to put these in mt cellar, They are probably going to have to stay in their boxes on their side though. This batch is awesome will quite the flavor profile.


----------



## AlFulchino (Mar 28, 2009)

wowsa!!!! 


I just had my first ever in my life Black CurrantWine courtesy of Winemaker Wade Evans


I am gonna have to have my wife Google black currants and see what these things are all about...everyone here at the house said this is a good one...but I go further.....


Never having seen or tasted this wine I was at a loss as to being able to compare the color, tasteand aroma with anything previous imbibed.


This wine is all about taste, taste taste. And I can safely state that this wine will be gone this evening and that means unless I take a break I will not be able to find out what decanting does to the aroma oner an hour or two.


The early aroma is light and soft with alight hint that a summer fruitdish is sitting nearby.

The alcohol is medium light and an easy drinker. This wine is all about taste morethan anything else and that means a lot to me because I value a wine that you can drink...not sip...not for cleaning my palate etc. I want to *drink* a wine. If you have never had a black currant wine before(like me), i would suggest contacting Wade so that you have a standard by which you can judge future black currant wines. This wine would make me have noreservations about actually looking for a black currant wine in the future.


The flavor profile to me was ALL about black cherries....exceptionally good mouthfeel...something about it just hints at it beinga mildly carbonated beverage which I really enjoy because it makes it drinkable drinkable drinkable. And I want to gulp it.


Wade, tell me ....how will this age? What happens when it ages? How long can it age? Or is this meant to be an early drinker such is in under two years?
Great job!


----------



## Wade E (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments. This wine ages very well as Black Currants have a decent amount of tannins in them. I had a few bottles hidden from my first batch for a few years and just consumed them a few months ago which means they had almost 4 years on them and were better then ever. I wish I had kept up on this wine more and will from now on to always have some bottles around with at least a year on them. This is by far my favorite fruit wine hands down. Did you at all taste any similarities between this and your wine as I tasted quite a bit of Black Currant in your wine which probably is 1 reason why I loved your wine and why I asked you if there was any Black Currant in your Sig. Blend!


----------



## AlFulchino (Mar 28, 2009)

Glad to hear that they age well.
Yes I did notice a light similarity but noticed it only after tasting yours...as you know my wine is 100% vinifera and i was wondering what you and Rich were talking about. I had never had or seen a currant before and certainly not a black currant wine. But I would not hesitate after having yours.


----------



## Wade E (Mar 28, 2009)

Ill have to send you some more wines to broaden your fruit horizon!


----------



## grapeman (Mar 28, 2009)

Now you know we meant nothing but great things by saying it had hints of black currant- That is a good thing! I still have a bunch of frozen black currants from last year. I guess I will have to try a batch soon from real fruit and not puree. I wonder how the black currant buds fared with the cold weather this year? Guess I better check that too!.




Look what you guys did. You just made me even more work!






How did you guys like the weather today? I got a sunburn on my face! I'm not used to bright sunshine and 65 degrees in March!


----------



## AlFulchino (Mar 28, 2009)

i do have to laugh  because i was thinking..what the h*ll are these guys blabbering about w this talk of currant...what the h*ll is a damn currant hahahaah


hey i just found out that states like mass, nh and vt still have a ban on currants dating back to the plant being a vector for a white pine rust..apparently this all happened back in the late 1800's....the state of NY lifted the ban in 2003


***the weather is great...got my tan a couple of weeks back via the greenhouse...gonna be cloudy the next two days w some rain


----------



## Wade E (Mar 28, 2009)

Great weather Rich, I got out there and hacked at some stumps from when I moved here and cleared out some land but didnt cut down as far as I should have.


----------



## Waldo (Mar 29, 2009)

Just burn them suckers down wade.
Glad to see Al is broadening his horizons on fruit wines


----------



## AlFulchino (Mar 29, 2009)

horizon????? i didn't have any horizon just the two square feet i was standing on


----------



## Wade E (Mar 29, 2009)

We are going to beat you down with fruits AL!


----------



## Chopper (Apr 1, 2009)

Wade,

I was wondering if your Black Currant batch was started from a Vintner's Harvest fruit base, or what? And did you add a body enhancer?

I'm wanting to start a batch of Vintner's Harvest Black Currant soon. I would shoot for an ABV of 10-11%, and would add an F-pack and back-sweeten. Would this work well with VH Black Currant?

Thanks,

Chopper


----------



## Wade E (Apr 1, 2009)

It will work awesome and yes this was from a Vintners harvest base. My next batch will be from fresh fruit as i have finally found a place in my state that can supply enough of these at a decent price to me. I made an f- pac for mine out of a black currant juice, Black Currant can go a little higher on abv if you want as the flavor profile is very strong and can hide abv very nicely.


----------



## joeswine (Apr 2, 2009)

FRUIT WINES ARE A WHOLE DIFFERENT CANVAS TO PAINT ON IT TAPPES THE CREATIVENESS IN THE WINE MAKER AND THE FUN OF WINE MAKING,DON,T GET ME WRONG BUT TO ME A GOOD CAB,IS JUST AS GOOD AS A GOOD RASPBERRY OR BLACKBERRY WINE.....THINK OUTSIDE THE TRADITIONAL WINE BOX...........



A


----------



## Chopper (Apr 2, 2009)

Wade,


I was wondering if the Vintner's Harvest Black Currant is pure juice, or does it have pulp as well?


And did you add a body enhancer, or deviate from the recipe in any other way? I'm ordering mine today...


Thanks,


Chopper


----------



## Wade E (Apr 2, 2009)

Check out page 1 of this post, I advise against what I did as it doesnt always quit when you want it to but typically works for me and this wine is 1 of those wines where abv doesnt matter to much as the flavor is strong enough to hide a pretty high abv. There is no fruit in this can unlike most of the other VH wine bases.


----------



## imported_mtnwalker (Apr 11, 2009)

Dang it all Wade. You have created an addiction. I don't have the language of winemakers yet, but AL did a nice job. 


Served a bottle of your black currant last week, and everyone raved. I am not new to fine wines, as my father had a fantastic cellar for wines he shipped from CA vintners via chemicals, and have enjoyed great wines while in Europe. Your black currant, matched anything I have had before, and inspires me to the hundreds of wild acres of berries, fruits, grapes that I have availiable. I will be trying to plant some currants this spring, and ordering some kit or juice now. been doing nothing but reading, reading since that taste to learn. 


I'll do my best to read and research everything I can so as not to clog up the forum with questions.


Thank you for the inspiration.
John


----------



## Wade E (Apr 11, 2009)

John, you have a whole new experience with wine forums as we love all the questions unlike the other forums you are used to! Glad to have you here and this is what i made that batch from although my next will be from local grown frozen berries. 
<table ="Catalog" id="products" align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><t><tr><td ="table" align="default" width="2%"><div align="center">3330 </td>
<td width="5%"><div align="center">



</td>
<td width="20%">

Black Current


Fruit bases are solid pack fruit in their natural juices.</td>
<td width="2%"><div align="right">$39.99</td>
<td width="2%">
</td></tr></t></table>


----------

