# Choke Cherry Wines



## PolishWineP (Nov 27, 2005)

Bert and I started 2 choke cherry wines on Friday. 1 of them is a dinner wine and the other is a dessert wine. 


We started by mushing up the choke cherries.









This was a slow process and I gave him a hand by using my hand to squish them in a plastic bag. (No photo of this.)


While Bert was mushing I was grinding raisins. We added the raisins to the dinner wine but not the dessert wine.








Here's a shot of the bag for the dinner wine. It's kind of blurry, sorry.








Bert put a lot of time into testing and adjusting the pH and acid level. Literally hours of work on that. It was almost like he was doing taxes and I kept my distance!












The yeast got pitched on Saturday and here's how the dinner wine looked 12 hours later.








Dinner wine getting a stir.








The dessert wine getting a stir. We used 8 pounds of choke cherries for the dessert wine and 4 pounds per gallon for the dinner wine. 








The smell of the fermentation room (aka the office) has started to improve! Nothing like a fresh batch of wine to sweeten the air.






We now return to our bottle washing party. If anyone wants to join is there's plenty of space and equipment available!


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## Curt (Nov 27, 2005)

Looking good Princess! Chokes are a pain in the butt but the end product is worth the effort. Nice pics too!


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## PolishWineP (Nov 27, 2005)

Thanks Curt. I just wish the freezing process would break the skins on the cherries! That would save loads of work.


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## bilbo-in-maine (Nov 27, 2005)

Don't they have large pits in each cherry? If so, are they just part of the mix? 
I think the skin toughness is bad with cranberries - they need to be run 
through a grinder

Your phototorial is great, thanks! I hope you post progress shots.

Bill


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## PolishWineP (Nov 27, 2005)

The choke cherries are small and the pit is large. We would be at it forever if we tried to remove them. We can't run them through the grinder because the pits would add bitterness to the wine. The price of the fruit is free, so this is what we make!



We'll try to keep up with the pictures.


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## Waldo (Nov 27, 2005)

Fantastic, educational and informative PWP.



I was really intrigued by the grinding of the raisins. Do keep us posted on the progress of these.


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## masta (Nov 27, 2005)

Great post PWP and not sure if I ever had a choke cherry before. Great shot of Bert working in the lab...I can relate to that.


I started another batch of mead this weekend (Cherry Melomel) and will be adding some Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate (68 Brix) to the secondary and it comes from Michigan.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 28, 2005)

As you can see we had quite a bit of activity in our dessert wine last night!



Lucky we had that towel there.


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## NorthernWinos (Nov 28, 2005)

Looks like your cup rune-th over. Your so lucky to have some fruit, we couldn't find any Choke Cherries this year. Last years wine was the best, we blended some of the dessert wine with the dinner wine, all 3 styles were good....they are all on the Reserve Shelf till next years harvest....keep us posted on your progress.


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## jobe05 (Nov 28, 2005)

Now here is a stupid question.......






But whats a chokecherry? Never heard of them but they sure do look like they make some pretty colored wine. What do they taste like? Do they / would they grow in the North Carolina area? Looks like a lot of work butinteresting. How many berries would it take for 5 gallons? Be kind now, I have just never heard of these berries.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 28, 2005)

Hmmm... Choke cherries. I think they're a Northern thing. They grow wild a lot of places...Trees and large bushes...They start out red then turn black for picking. Birds love them. They have a large seed and not much flesh. They're easy to pick, they grow on strings on the trees. The fruit is bitter/sour. After paying it no mind for years I discovered that we have a Canada Red choke cherry tree right in our own yard! Hope this link works!


http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/forestry/treeid/TreePgs/ prunusvirg.htm


And if you haven't seen the fruit or been exposed to it, then certainly you can't know much about it. Do not dispair! We do not think less of you for not knowing about it. I'm just jealous of the additional growing season that you have! Oh! The fruits I could grow and trade for the wines I could make! *Edited by: PolishWineP *


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## masta (Nov 28, 2005)

Link didn't work for me...try this


http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/forestry/treeid/TreePgs/prunusvir g.htm


I know we have them up here since there are flocks of birds that feed on them and the visit a certain area at work and deposit the seeds! They had to put up netting over some very large equipment to keep them away so they didn't make a mess of it.





*Edited by: masta *


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## PolishWineP (Nov 28, 2005)

And both of them didn't work for me!


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## jobe05 (Nov 28, 2005)

PolishWineP said:


> And both of them didn't work for me!




It would appear someone is trying to keep this little gem a secret






I was raised in Upstate (central) New York State (Syracuse area). I've never heard of these before. But it does sound like they would make good wine..... a lot of sugar, but good wine. If they are small berries which I can visualize by the seeds in your pictures, it must take a lot of them to make 5 gallons.





Keep us posted on your progress, the pictures are great.


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## Curt (Nov 29, 2005)

Well, let's try this one then. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.und.edu/or g/soaringeagleprairie/2005/identifyingplants/prairieplantpag es/white/chokecherry/images/0008188.JPG&amp;imgrefurl=http:/ /www.und.edu/org/soaringeagleprairie/2005/identifyingplants/ prairieplantpages/white/chokecherry/&amp;h=256&amp;w=384&amp ; ;sz=34&amp;tbnid=MhodNN1xIzkJ:&amp;tbnh=79&amp;tbnw=119&amp; hl=en&amp;start=49&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchokecherry%26star t%3D40%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN  Long sucker, isn't it? You can click on the "photos" link on the bottom for more pics.*Edited by: Curt *


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## NorthernWinos (Nov 29, 2005)

PolishWineP said:


> Hmmm... Choke cherries.  I think they're a Northern thing.  They grow wild a lot of places... Trees and large bushes... They start out red then turn black for picking.  Birds love them.  They have a large seed and not much flesh.  They're easy to pick, they grow on strings on the trees.  The fruit is bitter/sour.  After paying it no mind for years I discovered that we have a Canada Red choke cherry tree right in our own yard!  Hope this link works!
> 
> I noticed you mentioned a Canada Red Cherry tree...is that the decorative tree that we plant in our yards with the maroon leaves???? Prunus...something-or- other???? Would those fruits be the same??? We planted some of those when we moved here, but they are still young and haven't bore fruit yet.
> Last year when we were lucky enough to find lots of wild Choke Cherries we added some Sand Cherries in the mix, they are a bigger fruit and tasted about the same. They are a small semi-native shrubby bush that we planted in a hedgerow. The Sand Cherries were in a wild-life package of trees we got from the county, the mixture of trees came with wild Plums, some Hansa [Nanking Cherries, these have red sweet fruits] There were also some flowering crabapple trees too, but think those fruits are just for decoration and birds....the Robins eat them in the spring and get drunk and waddle around the yard....now there is a thought....? Wonder if anyone has ever made wine with those decorative flowering carbapples?????


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## Bert (Nov 29, 2005)

Yes, it is the decorative tree you planted in your yard. Maroon leaves and an awesome blossom smell in the spring. Before she knew what it was the PWP was going to cut the tree down but the smell from the flowers kept her from doing so. 


The choke cherry &amp; sand cherry wine sounds awesome! As far as the flowering crab apple wines, why not? We have 2 different types of those in our yard, a very small one and 1 that is about the size of a quarter. There are recipes out there for crab apple wines. Just wait till next year!






*Edited by: Bert *


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## NorthernWinos (Nov 29, 2005)

The flowering crabapples have tiny hard fruit, not much flesh. We planted 120 flowering crabapples in a shelterbelt around the yard, should be an awesome sight in springs ahead...figure 5 years before they bloom....as for the fruit...worth a try for wine....the Robins sure like them.
We planted crabapple trees along with the regular apple trees.....those have edible fruits, about half the size of a regular apple, and yes, they make good wine. Our apple trees that we planted 5 years ago have been producing the past 2 years.
I Googled our decorative Canada Red Cherry trees and it looks like it is related to the wild Choke Cherries....guess that's why they get the same diseases...that black fungus....been out cutting that stuff off when ever I see it on the wild bushes nearby.
Don't you think that our Friends in the Southern states could plant these Canada Red Cherry trees??? Guess they can grow better fruits than that....like peaches....lucky sods.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 29, 2005)

No kidding! It's enough to make a princess want to move south!



Guess we have to make due with what we have and be glad of it. 


We pulled the fruit bags tonight. Here's a picture of the waste material.












Here's a shot of the dessert wine after we pulled the bag.








And for the record, I actually tasted the dinner wine tonight. It is really good! I'd be happy just using the juice we've created! It's really good!


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## NorthernWinos (Nov 29, 2005)

Put the seeds out for your fine feathered friends...they need something to warm them these past few days.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 29, 2005)

We'll put some more bird seed out. I think these seeds will pass on through the system!




And we don't want them flying drunk, either!


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## PolishWineP (Nov 30, 2005)

We racked both versions of the choke cherry tonight. This is the dessert wine. 


Just racked, you can see that everything is freshly swirled. (And this stuff is still really cooking!)








In this next picture you can see the difference that 20 minutes in the carboy can make.








It really shows the sediment falling already.


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## MedPretzel (Dec 1, 2005)

What are you going to top up with when it's ready to be topped up? Or are you going to put them in 3-gallon carboys?


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## PolishWineP (Dec 1, 2005)

We have a nice selection of carboy available to us. We also have a pretty collection of marbles. Don't you think this would be pretty with marbles?



We have 6 gal, 5 gal, 3 gal and 1 gallon carboys. Wouldn't it be great if they made 2 gallon carboys?! We do a lot of mix and match to make things work.


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## masta (Dec 1, 2005)

Way to go PWP...it is so purdy I am all choked up.







Really it looks great!


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## Waldo (Dec 2, 2005)

Looking good PWP



*Edited by: Waldo *


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## MedPretzel (Dec 2, 2005)

PolishWineP said:


> We have a nice selection of carboy available to us. We also have a pretty collection of marbles. Don't you think this would be pretty with marbles?
> 
> 
> 
> We have 6 gal, 5 gal, 3 gal and 1 gallon carboys. Wouldn't it be great if they made 2 gallon carboys?! We do a lot of mix and match to make things work.







I agree! 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4 gallon carboys would be best. Especially for scratch wines. It always seems like I have 2.5 gallons of wine when I aim for 2.






I agree with Masta: Sure would look mighty fine with some soft pink or cats-eye marbles.









Looks absolutely wonderful PWP!


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## Vaughn (Dec 2, 2005)

MedPretzel said:


> I agree! 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4 gallon carboys would be best.




I would love it if I could find a 2.5 gallon carboy! ThenI could make a single can recipe of the Alexanders Sun Country grape concentrates! 


Let's start a petition. Picket lines! Sit ins! Freedom to the carboy!



*Edited by: Vaughn *


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## peterCooper (Dec 2, 2005)

Is there a reason why there are no 2 gallon ones?


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## PolishWineP (Dec 2, 2005)

So that we can't have everything we want...


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## PolishWineP (Dec 10, 2005)

We racked the choke cherry dinner wine last night. You can see the sediment here.








We stared with a 3-gallon and a 5-gallon carboy and ended up with 6 gallons of wine.


Here you can see Red the Cat helping by staying out of things for a change.


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## MedPretzel (Dec 10, 2005)

The wine looks fantastic!!!









Red the Cat is sooooo cute!


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## NorthernWinos (Dec 10, 2005)

PWP, that looks great, it sure settled out alot...Choke Cherry wine is the best.
Red cats can be so naughty and so nice.


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## Waldo (Dec 16, 2005)

Dang that looks good PWP


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## peterCooper (Dec 16, 2005)

There's a lot of sediment in there. Is that typical of fruit wines?


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## Bert (Dec 16, 2005)

That is pretty typical of fruit wines...about 24lbs. of choke cherries and 6lbs of raisins mashed or grounded and that leaves a lot of fines that can get through the straining bag. I try to adjust levels to make up for it ...But sometimes I guess wrong...


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## Cracked Cork (Feb 12, 2006)

PWP, great pictures, I am planting some chokecherries in our yard this
spring hoping to get enough to make some wine. Would you be so kind as
to share your recipie? and how are things progressing with these 2
batches now?



Cracked Cork


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## B M W (Feb 12, 2006)

PWP,


Thanks for the great pictures, your wine looks good. I haven't done a fruit wine yet so the pictures have really spiked my interest. I think I will do a rhubarb this spring and look for some chokecherries this fall.*Edited by: B M W *


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## PolishWineP (Feb 12, 2006)

Cracked, We'd love to share the recipes. When Bert gets home I'll ask him to post them and then message back here when that is done.


Beginning Wine, We made rhubarb as one of our first fruit wines and it was wonderful! We even gave it a special name, after a pet! We called it Duff Wine, Duff being the Boxer puppy that a friend had recently aquired. It's good to name wines after special events.


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## OldWino1 (Feb 18, 2006)

This is a the best. People enjoying the success of people every where. Those look great almost smell them thru the screen. I bet the age nicley. What kind of yeast did you use with each batch?


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## Cracked Cork (Apr 5, 2006)

PWP, is Bert home yet? While Bert is digging up that recipe could he
also find your own for rhubarb as we are also planting some of them
this spring too Got our chokecherry plants from Gurneys and they were
in great shape, I have high hopes for picking lots of chokecherries in
couple of years, going to be a long wait!



Cracked Cork





PolishWineP said:


> Cracked, We'd love to share the recipes.
> When Bert gets home I'll ask him to post them and then message back
> here when that is done.
> 
> ...


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## PolishWineP (Apr 5, 2006)

Yeah, I let Bert in the house!




I hope he sees this and pulls out the recipe. I'll enter it for him though. He doesn't much like that kind of stuff. 


I don't think you'll be making rhubarb wine this year. You should let the plant be for a year before picking. But we'll find that recipe too.


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