Best frozen fruits for wine?

[Mazaruni]

Just curious...if a person got bored in Minnesota winter and wanted to start a fruit wine, what are some acceptable frozen fruits from the grocery store to use for a 1 gal batch?

I made some strawberry and also some raspberry wine (U pick) this summer, so ideally, something other than that.

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[dralarms]

Just about anything you want to try will work

 

[Mazaruni]

Cool... I haven't done peach yet, but people say it needs to be overripe. So I wondered if frozen peach was good enough.

 

[dralarms]

Cool... I haven't done peach yet, but people say it needs to be overripe. So I wondered if frozen peach was good enough.

Any frozen fruit is sweeter than fresh. The reason is that it’s frozen at the peak of sweetness. Fresh is picked green and let ripen.

 

[porkchopmessiah]

Check out the dragons blood thread for a ton of variations....try some of the mixed bag of frozen you find at BJs Costco etc.
I'm just about ready to filter some made from BJs strawberry/blueberry/raspberry/BlackBerry ...looks damn good.
Also, all the dragons blood variants are made to have quick turnaround to being able to drink quickly

 

[Scooter68]

You can always order a can of Fruit Wine base. Frozen might be a little cheaper but the wine bases that I have used are pretty quick to clear and balanced in terms of acidity. I use Vintner's Harvest and one can makes a solid 3 gallon batch I like them because if it says it's Blackberry, it's 100% Blackberry, not a mix of Grape, Apple and Blackberry. I've used their Black Currant, Plum and Red Raspberry - found them excellent. Waiting to try the Elderberry. Another option would to be to investigate bottled concentrates. I've bought Tart and Sweet Cherry and there are a few others out there as well.

 

[salcoco]

take any of the juices at Walmart. use the white grape juice for a base on any of the fruit wines instead of using water. get more body. if you want a peach I think there is a grape/peach blend of juices just add canned peaches to ferment. lots of tools for making wine.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Read the label on any frozen juice you consider. Most of them already will use either white grape or apple juice as a (sugar) base. If not they have corn syrup or sugar for sweetness. If you want control, the organic section at my grocery chain has 100% juice available ex montmercy cherry and the local wine supply has cans of puree without the sugar.

 

[Mazaruni]

Thanks for all the great ideas, folks, for starting with frozen fruits. We're looking at -20s here in MN next week, so everything will be frozen

 

[ceeaton]

My favorite is from frozen peaches and mangos with a Welch's white grape base (niagara grapes I think). One I want to try a small batch of is a brambleberry type which I believe is a Catawba infused with red and black raspberries. I'm fresh out of Catawba so I'll use one Concord to two Niagara frozen concentrates, and a couple of big 'ol bags of frozen berries from my local BJs per gallon. An apple wine from frozen concentrate turns out really well, but I'd add some Opti white if you can get it to keep it from turning really brown.

 

[Keith5]

Are you guys adding full strength, undiluted Welch’s White Grape Juice when it’s stated “added 2 cans Welch’s grape juice” or reconstituting the grape juice first according to can directions and using 2 cans full, etc? It would make a big difference in sweetness, maybe pH, etc.
I’m thinking you are adding the entire undiluted can to the ferment but Sometimes I overthink things. Thanks

 

[dralarms]

I mix 20 cans of concentrate to 45 cans water (boosts the flavor). Get about 6 gallons after adding sugar and fermenting to dry and back sweetening.

 

[Scooter68]

Waiting now for my Mango/Pineapple Wine to clear completely. Two x 2lb bags of Frozen Mango Chunks and a Can of Frozen Pineapple Juice concentrate = 1 gallon of wine. The dregs from the last racking were great even though very dry. The pineapple is very strong in this one.