# Cherry Wine



## grapeman (Mar 6, 2007)

I am getting ready to do a cherry wine. Do any of you have some input about how much of what to use? It's going to be regular cherry, not blackcherry , chokecherry or others-plain old cherry. I ordered 1 can of Vintners Harvest Cherry Fruit Base, 1 can of Cherry Oregon Fruit Puree and 1 container of Red Grape Concentrate. I am going to probably use Cote des Blancs yeast.


I know a few of you made some cherry you liked. Please share any comments, recipes etc you might have.


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## grapeman (Mar 7, 2007)

So nobody has any input on a cherry wine? I'd rather know what works and what doesn't before I get into it.


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## Wade E (Mar 7, 2007)

I just bottled the Vintners Appleman and I followed the instr. to a tee
and wish I added Oregon as you are doing so I believe yours will be
better. And the concentrate will give it a better body so Im not sure
it can be better improved upon what your doing. There are a lot of pits
in the Vintners Cherry.


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## grapeman (Mar 7, 2007)

Thanks Wade. I don't have anything in hand yet, so I could modify what I am planning if someone has made a really good one and wants to make a recommendation. I don't remember Wade, did you make 3, 5 or 6 gallons?


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## Wade E (Mar 7, 2007)

6 with the addition of juicy juice cherry juice.


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## jobe05 (Mar 7, 2007)

Appleman: When I made mine a year ago or so, I was on another board and they were saying the best cherry wine was made from sweet cherries and tart cherries. Kinda like apple cider is made with sweet and tart apples. I can tell ya first hand, that a mix of sweet and tart cherries does NOT make the difference as mine is Flat tasting. It has a nice smooth cherry flavor, but has no bite, like an acid bite. I did add any acid at the beginning, but I would if I made it again. I still have not bottled mine, and when I get the time I would experiment with different additives to see what works. I tried sweeten it back a bit with white and red grape juice, and the red did make it taste "livelier", but still ot enough bite. I'm wondering if a frozen lemon concentrate would help.


My point after that long winded statement, sorry......... Taste a lot! And think about acid in the begining.


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## Bert (Mar 7, 2007)

I did a cherry wine with:


1 can vintner harvest
4qts. cherry juice [pin cherry juice, I think..got it from my sister]
3lbs.ground up raisins
2 1/2 lbs. banana
and the rest of the chems. that go with making wine
At bottleing, added 9 TBS. simple syurp and 2 TBS. cherry flavoring per gal


Has a nice cherry flavor ; on the sweet side, but still wish I had a little more body..


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## pkcook (Mar 7, 2007)

Appleman, 


I've made cherry wine from concentrate from brownwoodacres.com. I added some canned Oregon pie cherries and I think the wine was wonderful! I finished mine pretty sweet, but I tried it dry and semi and it just didin't the flavor I was looking for.*Edited by: pkcook *


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## grapeman (Mar 8, 2007)

Thanks everybody. That's the input I was looking for. I'm concerned the flavor might be mild also, so was looking to see what everybody does to get around it. I'll post when I get the batch going.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 8, 2007)

I have a cherry wine cooking...but it was made with various juices from the store...I just went in and grabbed anything that looked good...Just Cherry, Tart Cherry, Old Orchard Cherry blend, Juicey Juice, etc....the must tasted vrey-cherry at the onset.

We tasted it the other day and my honey said it had cherry flavor...I had been tasting other wines so had no opinion...

Actually...when I really want to 'taste' a wine...I will grab a tiny bit and taste it sometime after breakfast, when my taste buds are just waking up...swirll it around in my mouth and get a good feel for the flavor...have yet to do that with this wine...it still has some time to go.

When do you really give your wines the 'taste-test'???

I have a bottle of Cherry Flavoring that I bought when I first stocked my arsenal of goodies...haven't used it yet....has anyone used this artificial cherry flavor in a wine????

This is only a 3 gallon batch [3 one gallon jugs] and I suppose I could flavor some of it and see how that turns out...that's a thought!!!!????


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## Wade E (Mar 8, 2007)

Never but I think this batch could have used some!


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## bj4271 (Mar 9, 2007)

NW,


I've used that cherry flavoring &amp; never got a taste of cherry from it. It didn't even taste of cherry in the bottle.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 9, 2007)

Hummm...no cherry taste...might just try 8oz of wine and a mil or so just to taste it...

Hate to open the bottle for that...but can refrigerate the leftovers...or maybe just throw it out if it has no uses.

Thanks for the input...bj4271!


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## Bert (Mar 9, 2007)

I have used cherry, apple , strawberry, and blackberry flavoring...And I thought it added theflavor I was looking for...I used the ID Carlson natural wine flavoring....I think George handles it..


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 9, 2007)

The flavorings I have says it's for beer and wine...

I have used the apple flavoring in the sparkling apple wine....a bit too much the first batch...and since then use very little or none.

I used the Blueberry flavoring in a Blueberry/red grape wine and thought that was too much...then a year later it is a really nice wine...no hint of artificial flavoring.


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## Bert (Mar 9, 2007)

I think some of the bottles said for beer or wine...the oneI checked, the label on just said wine..It does seem to get stronger as the wine ages....


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## R.E.T. (Mar 13, 2007)

CHERRY WINE 
IWOULD ALSO LIKE TO MAKE SOME CHERRY WINE
I HAVE 12 QT. OF JUICE I STEAMED LAST FALL.HERE'S WHAT I HAVE
IN MINE.

12QT STEAMED CHERRY JUICE
5 CANS OLD ORCHARD 100% GRAPE 
10 TSP.ACID BLEND
1/4 TSPK-META
1 1/4 GRAPE TANNIN
5 TSP YEAST NUTRIENT
1 1/4 TSP PECTIC ENZYME POWER
LAL 71B-1122 YEAST STATER 
ADD WATER AND SUGER TO GET SG 1.O90-1.095 

WOULD LIKE SOME COMMENTS


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## pkcook (Mar 14, 2007)

R.E.T.


I was wondering why you chose to use so much Old Orchard Grape? Cherry wines that I have made have always had plenty of body. Nothing wrong with it, just curious.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 14, 2007)

R.E.T.....Would that be the Niagara juice you would use????


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## R.E.T. (Mar 14, 2007)

THANK FOR THE REPLY 
WELL PK I NEVER MADE WINE FROM STEAMED CHERRYS BEFORE
I WANT TO MAKE SURE I HAD ENOUGH. DOYOU THINK JUST 2 CANS WOULDBE ENOUGH?


NORTHERN WINOS- NO ALL IT SAID WAS OLD ORCHARD 100%
GRAPE JUICE NO SUGAR ADDED DID'NT SEE ANYTHING ABOUT
NIAGARA. THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY. HOW MANY CANS DO YOUTHINK
I SHOUD USE?


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## Waldo (Mar 15, 2007)

That 10tsp of acid blend looks a bit high R.E.T. for a Cherry. I could be wrong though..I have been before


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## pkcook (Mar 15, 2007)

R.E.T. 


How much wine are you making? 


I would think that steamed juice would be concentrated a bit in the process, so with 12 qt (3 gal) of juice I would not add more than 2 cans of concentrate if you are staying with 3 gallon. If you are going for 5 gallons of wine, the 5 cans will provide additional juice, but I would think it would change the flavor profile quite a bit. Concord grape juice has a very notable (foxy) flavor. With 5 cans of concentrate added you might make a great tasting wine, but it might not have a strongcherry nose and finish.


That is the nice thing about making your own wine, you can make it anyway you want and experiment with different mixes! Good luck and keep us posted.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 15, 2007)

I made a cherry wine, but just with store bought juices...it's coming along pretty nice.

I added WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate. I usually add red or white to my fruit wines.... it adds body, sweetness and color and doesn't change the flavors of fruit wines much at all....I use 2 500mil to a 5 gallon batch....it really brings up the S.G. and you would need much less sugar...

I agree with pkcook about the frozen Welch's or Old Orchard Concord concentrated juices...the Concord is really strong and I think you would over power your lovely cherry flavor that you worked so hard to get.

If you want to use frozen juice concentrate Niagara might be nice with the cherry juice that you have...but it too is grapey, but less so than the Concord...

There is frozen cherry juice concentrate....Old Orchard blends theirs with apple and Welch's is blended with Niagara....those would add some body to your juice too.

Any of the frozen juice concentrates also will add sweetness and less sugar will be needed in your recipe...keep track of your sugar additions with your hydrometer....add a few pounds at a time.

Let us know what you decide to use and give us your report on how it turns out...Photos along the way would be fun.


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## R.E.T. (Mar 15, 2007)

WALDO- WILL TRY TO CHECK ACID. HAVE TWO ACID KITS , THEY DON"T
WANT TO COME UPWITH THE SAMENUMBERS.






10 WAS JUST A 
STARTING POINT. TRYING FOUR 60% HOPE THAT CLOSE.

P K 
WHEN YOU STEAM YOU GET QUITE BIT WATER IF YOU DON'T WATCH
IT CLOSE. THAT WHY I THOUGH MIGHT NEEDMORE CANS OF JUICE.
THINK I WILL CUT BACK TWO 3 CANS, ADDSOME AT THE END I NEED SOMES MORE.

NORTHERN WINOS
THIS WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE IS IT LIKE OLD ORCHARD
GRAPE CONCENTRATE?
I HAVE NOTSEEN ANY NIAGARA IN ANY STORESHERE. THEY DON'T 
CARRY MUCH FORZEN JUICE. I WILL KEEP CLOSE CHECK WITH 
HYDROMETER WHAN ADDING SUGAR. TRY TO START NEXT WEEK.

THANK EVERBODY FOR YOUR REPLY




MAKING 5 GAL.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 15, 2007)

R.E.T. said:


> NORTHERN WINOS
> THIS WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE IS IT LIKE OLD ORCHARD
> GRAPE CONCENTRATE?
> I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY NIAGARA IN ANY STORES HERE. THEY DON'T
> ...


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## R.E.T. (Mar 15, 2007)

NORTHERN WINOS - THANKS FOR THE INFO ABOUT THE CONCENTRATE. SOUNDS LIKE YOU COULD USE THEIRS IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT WINES. 
I'M NEW AT THIS WINE MAKING, BUT SURE HAVE LEARNED ALOT ON THIS SITE. FOR SOME REASON, I CAN'T BRING UP THE WEB SITE YOU PUT IN. A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE HAS 7 ACRES CLOSE TO WHERE I LIVE AND THE CHERRIES WERE REAL SMALL AND NOT GOOD FOR THE MARKET. HE NEVER PICKED A CHERRY. THEY ARE CALLED SWEETHART. THEY USUALLY GET A VERY GOOD PRICE, IF THEY ARE LARGE ENOUGH. I SHOULD HAVE PICKED MORE, BUT WITH THE REST OF THE FRUIT IN THE FREEZER, IT WAS FULL. I THINK IT WAS ALMOST 3 GALS TO MAKE 12 QUARTS. I VACUUM PACKED THEM. SURE WAS A LOT OF BAGS. I THINK IT WAS ABOUT 3 LB PER BAG AND I HAD ABOUT 12 BAGS. I'LL TAKE SOME PICTURES WHEN I GET STARTED.


THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR COMMENTS.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 15, 2007)

Hope this works for the Welch's site...





http://www.welchs.com/products/frozenjuices.html


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## R.E.T. (Mar 16, 2007)

IT WORKED JUST FINE 
BOY NEVERNEW THEY THEY MADE SO MANEY


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## grapeman (Mar 18, 2007)

The Cherry wine has been going for a week now and I racked it to the secondary yesterday. Man is it throwing a lot of lees, probably from the cherry puree. I don't have a picture yet, but will try to get one soon. It has a nice color to it. When I racked it, I had to give it sample and was really surprised by th flavor and aromas. Cindy didn't even know I had started a cherry wine and came in the room while I was racking it and said"What kind of wine are you doing now. It really has some cherry smell going on." The smell is VERY CHERRY and the taste is- well, Cherry. I didn't take this one real high with alcohol and used Cote de Blancs yeast to try to retain more of the delicate flavors. I think this one will be really good. Here's what I used in the end.


1 Can Vintner's Harvest Cherry(whole with pits)
1 Can Oregon Cherry Puree- not pits in can just a cherry puree
1 Bottle WE Red Grape Concentrate
10 pounds sugar
Water to 6 gallons
4 TBSP Acid Blend- yes Waldo 4 TBSP-12 tsp(took that much for just a little pucker- the whole cherries were pretty blah-not sweet and certainly not tart)
4 tsp Bentonite-added to primary
1 TBSP Yeast Nutrient
1/4 tsp K-Meta
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
2 tsp Liquid Tannin


SG was 1.085
I put the Cherries in a straining bag and added to the primary and left there until transfered to secondary. I squeezed all the juice out at that point. SG on transfer 1.010
By next day after transfer 2 inches of lees on bottom with a ton of bubbles, but no foam.


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## ScubaDon (Mar 18, 2007)

Sounds great Appleman, Waiting to see how this one turns out.


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## R.E.T. (Mar 22, 2007)

FINALLY STARTED MY CHERRY WINE ON 3-19. SURE DID SMELL GOOD.




PITCHED YEAST ON 3-20. ON 3-21 IT LOOKED REALLY GOOD. THEN ON 3-22 SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED, THOSE YEASTS MUST HAVE HAD QUITE A PARTY. THERE WAS FOAM ALL OVER IN THE MORNING.



WHEN I STARTED THERE WAS ABOUT 3" OF SPACE ON TOP. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN ROCKING AND ROLLING.



CLEANED UP THEIR MESS. NOW FOUR HOURS LATER NO FOAM, BUT THEY ARE WORKING LIKE CRAZY. HOPE THEY BEHAVE THEMSELVES.


SOMETHING I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THAT I CHECKED IT IN THE BUCKET WITH HYDROMETER AND IT WAS 1.090 WITH NO FOAM. NOW AFTER THE "PARTY" IT IS 1.094. IT'S WORKING REALLY GOOD. WOULD THAT PUSH UP THE HYDROMETER? ANYONE HAVE ANY THOUGHTS?


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## Bert (Mar 23, 2007)

I'm wondering if when you added sweetener to your must if maybe you didn't stir it enough and when the yeast started working it did a self stirring, bringing up the SG.


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## jobe05 (Mar 23, 2007)

Bert said:


> I'm wondering if when you added sweetener to your must if maybe you didn't stir it enough and when the yeast started working it did a self stirring, bringing up the SG.




I've done that more than once........... Fortunately nothing dreadfull will happen, just loses track of the ABV, but I'm sure not by much.


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## grapeman (Mar 23, 2007)

I tried posting earlier, but it dissapeared twice on me. I'll try again now. As the yeast got very active and started foaming, the temps probably got up to about 85 degrees. That would raise the SG up without temperature correction, and if it had just begun active fermentation, it would read high. Wait a couple days and check again to make sure the SG is going down so it isn't a stuck fermentation.


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## R.E.T. (Mar 23, 2007)

BERT 


WHEN I ADDED THE SUGAR WATER, I WAS MIXING WITH MY DRILL. SO I KNOW IT GOT MIXED WELL. 
APPLEMAN
THETEMP IN MY "WINE" ROOM IS65 DEGREES. I CHECKED TODAY S G WAS 1.080 AND REALLY ACTIVE, SMELLS AND LOOKS REALLY GOOD. WILL HAVE SOME PICTURES LATER. 
THANKS FOR COMMENTS.


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## grapeman (Mar 23, 2007)

R.E.T.- I'm not talking about the temp of the room, but the temp of the must. As the yeast gets active, it generates it's own heat and can raise the overall temp of the wine 10-20 degrees. When you take the SG reading, you should also take the temperature of the wine with a floating thermometer or similar. I don't think it's anything to worry about as long as the ferment doesn't stall out.


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## R.E.T. (Mar 25, 2007)

ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT 
THANK YOU APPLEMAN, I DIDN'T KNOW THE MUST WOULD WARM UP LIKE THAT. I NEVER HAVE TAKEN TEMP OF MUST. I'LL HAVE TO GET A FLOATING THERMOMETER. I LEARN SOMETHING ALMOST EVERY DAY. PEOPLE LIKE YOU HELP US MAKE BETTER WINE. EVERYONE ON THIS SITE IS SO HELPFUL.


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## OGrav (Apr 9, 2007)

More than likely with a very active and foamy fermentation there are a lot of air bubbles stuck to the side of the hydrometer when you are measuring the must, giving it an inaccurate high reading. Spin the hydrometer a few times fast on the way down and see if that changes your reading. I had the same thing happen to me and it was about a .005 degree difference. Also at this stage the yeast action may have kicked up some of the fruit solids in solution, also upping the sg. Also, keep in mind araise in the temp will have the sg reading lower, not higher, hence as the temp rises, the correction is to add to the readingto make it right, not subtract. When water/must is warmer, it is less dense,and the hydrometer will float lower;cool it,and it will float higher.
Enough with the science, for all practical purposes, as long as you're not comparingone reading with ice in it to another down the road over90 degreesit really doesn't matter much enough to worry about. If it was room temp when yeast was pitched,androom tempbefore you bottle, the difference is what you areconcerned with. Appleman was right, nothing to worry about. Bring on those pics.


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## bj4271 (May 8, 2007)

So if I read all this correctly, the Vintner's Harvest Cherry fruit base is pretty bland. Even combined with Oregon cherry puree it needs something (tart cherries, added acid, grape conc.) to give it a bit of a bite.


I had made one batch of cherry wine using the Oregon puree by itself - very little cherry flavor, even with most of one of the bottles of flavoring George sells.


If I use a can of VH &amp; a can of Oregon puree what would be the best thing to give it a bite: I have several 15oz cans of tart cherries? Would that do it?


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## Spencer (May 8, 2007)

Hi Appleman,
This is my first response on the forum. I made a cherry wine which was bottled in march 2007. Recipe: 2 gallons water, 3# sugar, 2 cans Oregan Red Tart cherries,. This brought SG to 1.070, If I was you I'd raise my SG to 1.080. Used 3 tsp. acid blend, The wine was good but I would increase this a little, the attack was not all that exciting. 2 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 pkg 71B-1122 yeast. SG fell to .996. I kept 1 gallon dry, very nice. I sweetened one gallon slightly with 2.5 oz of sugar water 3:1 ratio (sugar/water). added Potasium sorbate. Turned out nice. A good summer wine, make the few tweaks I suggested and yours will be better.
_Spencer


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## Wade E (May 8, 2007)

Welcome Spencer and please share your wine experiences!


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## grapeman (May 8, 2007)

Welcome Spencer. I'm glad your is enjoyable. I did make my SG higher- bringing it up to 1.085. I used 10# sugar for a six gallon batch. I used a lot more acid than most might- I want some pucker and from what I have tasted so far, I think I achieved it. I used 4 Tablespoons of acid blend=12 teaspoons. I added 3 oz of cherry flavoring. I know I had about a half bottle more than would fit in the carboy while topping it up a few weeks ago to age a little. Naturally I needed to sample it and it was so good, I finished it off. I'll bottle as soon as I get some time, but I've been busy clearing land and preparing to plant another 300 vines.


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## bj4271 (May 9, 2007)

WElcome Spencer,


Were those 15 oz cans?


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## bmorosco (May 10, 2007)

Hey everyone!! Just took a quick snapshot of my Cherry wine.... It has been in there for over 5 months!!


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## Wade E (May 10, 2007)

Nice job of patience!


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## NorthernWinos (May 11, 2007)

Tell us how it tastes....


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## Spencer (May 12, 2007)

Yes, 15 oz cans. I think I'm going to try a similar receipe with blueberry


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## grapeman (Jul 10, 2007)

Well I got the Black Currant and the Cherry batches bottled this weekend. The Black Currant with the 2 cans turned out very good with lots of flavor and just enough swwet tart to be interesting to the palate. The Cherry is pretty good and has enough flavor even this young. I put in enough acid that it is like a tart cherry pie. After combining and tasting a number of combinations, I decided half Black Currant and Half Cherry was a winning combination, so I did 20 bottles of Black Currant, 20 Bottles of Cherry and 20 bottles of Black Currant/Cherry mixed. I brough a bottle of the mixed one over to my sister to taste since she is a fan of semi-sweet fruity wines(she's a little fruity herself). She gave it the thumbs up(as well as the rest of her fingers needed to repeatedly lift the wine glass). I was there about 10 minutes and the bottle was half gone by the time I left- and she was the only one drinking it.


All said, they both turned out really good and I will be doing them again. I will get some pictures to post as soon as I make some labels and attach them.


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## Wade E (Jul 10, 2007)

Where they both the Vintners Harvest?


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## Waldo (Jul 11, 2007)

Sounds mighty good appleman.
I am going to try a Black Currant/Blackberry here before long. The starting schedule is dependent on the slow ripening Blackberries. May make a run to the Farmers Market in Little Rock Saturday morning and see what the offerings are there this year.


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## grapeman (Jul 11, 2007)

wade said:


> Where they both the Vintners Harvest?




Yes Wade they were. The black currant used 2 cans Vintners Harvest and here is the recipe for the Cherry



1 Can Vintner's Harvest Cherry(whole with pits)
1 Can Oregon Cherry Puree- not pits in can just a cherry puree
1 Bottle WE Red Grape Concentrate
10 pounds sugar
Water to 6 gallons
4 TBSP Acid Blend- yes Waldo 4 TBSP-12 tsp(took that much for just a little pucker- the whole cherries were pretty blah-not sweet and certainly not tart)
4 tsp Bentonite-added to primary
1 TBSP Yeast Nutrient
1/4 tsp K-Meta
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
2 tsp Liquid Tannin


SG was 1.085


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