# Choke Cherry Wine



## Wade E

~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8 QUARTS JUICE [22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES]
2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
9# SUGAR
6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
5 tsp ACID BLEND
4 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
2 VANILLA BEANS

S.G. 1.087 water to 6½ gallons

12 hours later----
3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT

12 hours later
LALVIN RC-212 YEAST


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## Goodfella

Good call on the vanilla beans Wade. I used them on a few wines last year. They turned out nice. Very subtle on the flavor. (1/2 bean per gallon). Adds 1 more element of depth to the wine.


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## MN-winer

I have to say my last experience with Choke Cherries was not a good one. I made some a long time ago so I probably did something wrong but it had kind of a rough taste (thats the only way to describe it). Choke cherries are plentiful in MN right now but I don't think I will try that again. Maybe its an acquired taste? Maybe the grape concentrate will smooth it out.


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## Wade E

This is not my recipe but is from someone on another forum. She was a loved woman and many raved about this recipe. I have looked at this recipe and everything is spot on as far as a recipe goes and thats the onloy reason I [posted it, well that and the fact that a few people were looking for a recip for this and from looking at many on the internet this was the best looking one there. She used this recipe every yesar for many years.


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## winemaker_3352

Wade E said:


> ~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 8 QUARTS JUICE [22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES]
> 2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
> 9# SUGAR
> 6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
> 4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
> 5 tsp ACID BLEND
> 4 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
> 2 VANILLA BEANS
> 
> S.G. 1.087 water to 6½ gallons
> 
> 12 hours later----
> 3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
> 3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
> 6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
> 
> 12 hours later
> LALVIN RC-212 YEAST




Do the oak chips and vanilla beans get added in during primary fermentation?

And - is there anything special to preparing the vanilla bean?


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## Wade E

You can add the oak or vanilla bean when ever you want but Id add the vanilla bean up front. Just split the vanilla bean down the middle and put in primary.


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## winemaker_3352

Wade E said:


> You can add the oak or vanilla bean when ever you want but Id add the vanilla bean up front. Just split the vanilla bean down the middle and put in primary.



So you said oak chips or vanilla bean - should this not be made with both?

One or the other?


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## Mud

Elderberry takes oak very well. I wouldn't be afraid to do both.


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## winemaker_3352

Mud said:


> Elderberry takes oak very well. I wouldn't be afraid to do both.



I assume in the primary as well.

Now the directions on the oak chips say to boil them - is that what do before adding the oak chips in?


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## Mud

Whoa. Totally ignore me. I was just looking at some eldo threads. Hence the comment about elderberry taking oak well. I have no idea here. Sorry for the confusion.


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## winemaker_3352

Mud said:


> Whoa. Totally ignore me. I was just looking at some eldo threads. Hence the comment about elderberry taking oak well. I have no idea here. Sorry for the confusion.



Hey no problem - i have been there before 

Anywho - how do you prepare your oak chips for your elderberry wine?

I would imagine that the oak chip prep would be the same.


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## Mud

Cut a piece of white oak into 3/4" x 5/8" x 6" lengths and grill them over low heat in a foil pack until they are chocolaty brown. Might take some practice to get anything besides charred chunks. I have to prop the lid open a bit and use the upper rack.

That size is easy to remove and it fits in a 1 gallon jug or larger.


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## winemaker_3352

hmm - the bag of toasted oak chips i have just say to boil them for a few min - then add to primary.

These are already chopped up into pieces - so we may using different chips.


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## Wade E

Mud makes his own chips. All I meant before is that I choose to add oak while aging unless using dust like in a kit or chips due to the fact that they do their job much faster unlike staves or cubes or spirals which I prefer. The vanilla bean can do either also.


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## winemaker_3352

Thanks.

Couple more questions - once the juice has been simmered out of the cherries - do i discard the pulp - or put it into a bag and place into primary?

Does the concentrate go in during primary or is it used to backsweeten?


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## djrockinsteve

Wade, if I were to use this recipe but make it a chocolate choke cherry wine would (do you think) all I need to add would be cocoa powder and the choc. extract? I think the vanilla beans and oak might still add a great taste to it.

The gravity looks good, maybe a hair less.


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## winemaker_3352

djrockinsteve said:


> Wade, if I were to use this recipe but make it a chocolate choke cherry wine would (do you think) all I need to add would be cocoa powder and the choc. extract? I think the vanilla beans and oak might still add a great taste to it.
> 
> The gravity looks good, maybe a hair less.




Damn - that sounds hella good!!!


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## djrockinsteve

Jon, darn these wine makers on this site. I'm starting to bottle some of my wines to make way for the new seasons wine and I'm getting crab apples, choke cherries etc. I'm out of carboys, gotta buy more, I guess 15 5 gallons isn't enough.

On top of that I'm building a new table to work and age wine and build another massive wine rack. I'm runnin' out of room. But what a great supply I'm building up.

and yes, Chocolate Choke Cherry wine sounds really good. My wife just had a bottle of choc. cherry and loved it. Maybe it's all her fault.")


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## winemaker_3352

Yeah - i don't have that many carboys "yet" but i am making my way. I have 2 - 6 gallon and 4 - 6.5 gallon and a bunch of 1 gallon carboys.


I am hoping to get about 4 or 5 more 6 gallon ones around christmas time .

I just built two counter top spaces and installed a utility sink as well.


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## Denny32

*Looks like a good recipe to use*

Choke Cherry Season is almost over near Lake Superior. My friend and I got real lucky in finding an incredible amount of berries. 120 pounds picked, washed, bagged, and frozen in three times out. We were even lucky enough to convince our wives to come picking today.

In looking at many recipes for Choke Cherry wine, I can always count on this forum to point out the great ones.


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## Jify

Wade E said:


> 2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE



Can I replace the Winexpert Red Grape Concentrate with Welch's concentrate without suffering a major flavour/body loss? I'd love to give this recipe a "go" this summer, but I'm hung up on spending $20 a bottle for the local homebrewers grape concentrate.

Would this work?







Thank you!


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## winemaker_3352

Jify said:


> Can I replace the Winexpert Red Grape Concentrate with Welch's concentrate without suffering a major flavour/body loss? I'd love to give this recipe a "go" this summer, but I'm hung up on spending $20 a bottle for the local homebrewers grape concentrate.
> 
> Would this work?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you!



That is what i used - I would suggest letting this age a while though - as chokecherries are very high in tannins.


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## pwrose

I didn't use anything but chokecherry juice.
Here is my post on what I did.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8775

I certainly learned that you don't need to add any tannins and age it at least 6+ months.
I think winemaker would agree on this part.


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## winemaker_3352

pwrose said:


> I didn't use anything but chokecherry juice.
> Here is my post on what I did.
> http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8775
> 
> I certainly learned that you don't need to add any tannins and age it at least 6+ months.
> I think winemaker would agree on this part.



Oh yeah!!! I made the same mistake by adding in more tannins.


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## djrockinsteve

Jify said:


> Can I replace the Winexpert Red Grape Concentrate with Welch's concentrate without suffering a major flavour/body loss? I'd love to give this recipe a "go" this summer, but I'm hung up on spending $20 a bottle for the local homebrewers grape concentrate.
> 
> Would this work?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you!



As opposed to red grape could you use cherry, or is the grape a hardier juice?


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## abefroman

Wade E said:


> ~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 8 QUARTS JUICE [22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES]
> 2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
> 9# SUGAR
> 6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
> 4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
> 5 tsp ACID BLEND
> 4 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
> 2 VANILLA BEANS
> 
> S.G. 1.087 water to 6½ gallons
> 
> 12 hours later----
> 3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
> 3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
> 6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
> 
> 12 hours later
> LALVIN RC-212 YEAST



Is the 6.5 campden tables a little much? That would be like 1/2tsp k-meta


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## abefroman

Wade E said:


> ~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 8 QUARTS JUICE [22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES]
> 2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
> 9# SUGAR
> 6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
> 4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
> 5 tsp ACID BLEND
> 4 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
> 2 VANILLA BEANS
> 
> S.G. 1.087 water to 6½ gallons
> 
> 12 hours later----
> 3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
> 3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
> 6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
> 
> 12 hours later
> LALVIN RC-212 YEAST



Is the 6.5 campden tables a little much? That would be like 1/2tsp k-meta


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## J-Gee

Are any updates on this choke berry wine available?


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## djrockinsteve

Mine came out really good however several folks have conveyed to me it makes you fart. Aside from that they love it. 

My chocolate choke cherry is very good but I haven't given too many out. It's that good


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## DirtyDawg10

lmao...


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## J-Gee

I should have planted choke cherries years ago. I'm going to try to get some in the ground this spring.I don't think I have a source for the cherries,but I'd like to try this recipe. Thanks for the heads up on the farting.


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## pwrose

I am a few months away from mine being two years old and the last time I tried mine it was still a little harsh. You can tell the flavor is there but still needs another year or so.


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## Wade E

From what I hear about these is that the ones from way up north tend to be stronger then others. Its what Ive read a few times as this was a reecipe from a very nice lady there and had a lot of discussions about this wine.


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## WVMountaineerJack

My Danube cherries were a big dissapointment, we got like 10 cherries off of our 5 year old dwarfs, they were really good with red juice but they couldnt stand the disease pressure over here. We pulled them out and put in their place chokecherries just to see if some natives would do better in the winegarden, and we have several cherry orchards around here we can pick in June but nowhere to pick chokecherries. We havent even tasted a bottle of the wine yet but have 25 new bushes planted and under irrigation to get a fast start. Cracked in WV


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## hannabarn

I have made chokecherry wine using the recipe that Wade posted. I, too am familiar with the very nice lady he is referring to. I'm from northern Wisconsin and chokecherries are plentiful usually. I have found that the wild chokecherries are rather harsh tasting. If we get lots of rain they tend to be less harsh. I mix them with something else. I made a chokecherry apple grape wine which turned out well. I'll have to try adding chocolate. That sounds interesting. By the way, I think the chokecherries that this lady used from Mn are different that the ones here in Wisconsin!


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## Bert

Hi Barney; I use mostly tame chokecherries [Canadian red something] Barney and I have traded wines in the past and his chokecherry apple blend is really nice.....As Barney said wild chokecherries can get a bit harsh and need about 2 yrs. in the bottle to mellow out.....A blend might be the way to go...


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## Logwerx

I just got done putting together a batch from the recipe at the start of this thread. I am kind of worried, as no one has posted in over a year, did you all die from your batches? The wife I picked a cattle tub full of berries 150#, then juiced them all, got 14 gallons of juice. We now have 6 6-1/2 gallon carboys and 2 3 gallon carboys working their asses off. The 3 gallon carboys we did not use the grape concentrate in them, just adjusted with sugar to 1.085. Wanted to see what the difference in taste would be.

We are just now starting to see the Valiants starting to change color, have to go to town and get a few 20 gallon Brutes for the next batch. Might even have to do some hard apple cider this year too, as we have an over abundance of apples this year too.


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## fabrictodyefor

I have read and re-read this thread a couple of times, my first batch of wine ever, is a choke cherry/apple, using frozen apple concentrate and choke cherries growing along a bar ditch. If I would have read this thread before I started I may have been worried! But I tasted mine yesterday....started it Aug 8/18/13 and it is really good! It is still bulk aging and I plan on leaving it there a couple more months. I made so many mistakes on this wine, I am overjoyed it is as good as it is! But I do have 7 more quarts of choke cherries and plan on doing Wade's recipe...when I have carboy space!


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## Boyd

*choke cherry*

Made a 6 gallon batch of chokecherry in 2011, my first try of choke cherry.

Turned out really harsh, lots of pucker power, so I used the egg white trick to settle out some of the tannins

Did 1/2 egg at a time for 3 times.

Ended up blending it with 12 gallons of 2 year old elderberry.

My wine loving daughter pronounce it to be very good.

I may get around to bottling it in the next couple weeks.


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## fabrictodyefor

Wade E said:


> ~~~~~~~~~~CHOKECHERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 8 QUARTS JUICE [22# STEAMED EXTRACTED CHOKECHERRIES]
> 2 BOTTLES WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
> 9# SUGAR
> 6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
> 4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
> 5 tsp ACID BLEND
> 4 oz AMERICAN OAK CHIPS [TOASTED]
> 2 VANILLA BEANS
> 
> S.G. 1.087 water to 6½ gallons
> 
> 12 hours later----
> 3 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
> 3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
> 6 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
> 
> 12 hours later
> LALVIN RC-212 YEAST



I know you posted this some time ago....my first ever batch of wine, was a choke cherry apple and I did not add tannins. I started it Aug, 2013 and it is very tasty. I had canned more choke cherry juice to make another batch later...Later is now! My question is: is the tannins necessary? I seemed to recall reading that choke cherries had tannin, but I've read so much about making wine in the last 5 months, I could be wrong. Thanks for the help


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## fabrictodyefor

I'll try again on this thread....
On 2/1414, I made the recipe from the first page of this forum, using 9 qts home canned choke cherry juice and 8 cans Welches grape juice, added 7 lbs of sugar to get an sg of 1.088, added the remaining ingredients as listed. let sit 24 hours then pitched the RC212 yeast. On 3/1, at 0.999 I racked to a carboy. On 4/18/14 I thiefed a glass and the flavor is good...but there is no "mouth feel". I know a lot will improve with age, will the "mouth feel" improve? Or should I try and do something while it is bulk aging. Thanks!


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## Julie

add some tannins, this will help with mouthfeel.


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## fabrictodyefor

Thanks, Julie. I've added tannins during fermentation, but never while bulk aging. I will try that.


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## Julie

adding tannins after fermentation will help in mouthfeel, also, are you planning on backsweetening?


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## WVMountaineerJack

When do chokecherries bloom? Mine are waking up but havent seen any blooms on them yet. WVMJ


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## Julie

They should start to bloom in the middle of May. You going to make a choke cherry wine? Blend some with your elderberries, you will love it!


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## fabrictodyefor

Julie said:


> adding tannins after fermentation will help in mouthfeel, also, are you planning on backsweetening?



I probably won't back sweeten. The other day when I tried it, it had great flavor, just no mouthfeel! But if you think it might help, I can always do a little taste testing with some simple syrup and see what happens. This is a first for me, the no mouthfeel, so I wasn't sure what to do. This is my second batch of choke cherry, my first was a choke cherry/apple juice concentrate and it is wonderful. My sister and I both are ready to go choke cherry picking again. We both gave some bottles of wine to the owners of land where we got our cherries and he is loving us to come back! He has 2 different kinds of choke cherries, the "black" one and also a "red" one. I hadn't realized there were different varieties.


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## WVMountaineerJack

Make your next batch a chokecherry mead (no I have not done one yet but make a lot of fruit meads), the honey adds a bit of body, toss in some tannins to and your going to need a big spoon to get it out of the bottle  WVMJ


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## byathread

WVMountaineerJack said:


> When do chokecherries bloom? Mine are waking up but havent seen any blooms on them yet. WVMJ



Here in Colorado they typically bloom late April to late May depending on elevation. Beautiful in bloom (and my bees like them too) and here at least they are tart and quite tannic. For me they're perfectly enjoyable to eat some out-of-hand. I did a tiny 1 gallon batch of off-dry chokecherry mead a couple years ago and kicking myself for not doing more as it was lovely and they're pretty common in town and wild on public land.


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## fabrictodyefor

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Make your next batch a chokecherry mead (no I have not done one yet but make a lot of fruit meads), the honey adds a bit of body, toss in some tannins to and your going to need a big spoon to get it out of the bottle  WVMJ



  So if I do decide to back sweeten I'll try some honey! and if I ever get back to WV where my son lives I'll look you up and talk you out of some of those elderberries!


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