Bottling Sangria

[BettyJ]

Hi everyone
Thought I would share my experience with this - my first red wine from concentrate was just ok, so a few months ago I bottled it as Sangria. Basically mixed up my secret alcoholic punch containing rum and variety of fruit juices (with preservatives). This has gone over very well in our tropical climate and the preservatives keep it from spoiling (I hope anyway). The ratio is 50% wine to punch. The only issue thus far is that the juices tend to settle in the bottom so you have to shake prior to serving and can add additional fruit if you want.

Has anyone else tried this? I am getting requests for white wine sangria as well.... but will only do it if the wine is not fantastic of course

Ordered the Port floor corker today - now if I can only get labels that are water resistant...

Cheers!

 

[St Allie]

hiya Betty,

No I haven't tried that.. how long will you leave it before drinking it? Also, did you bottle any of the red wine to see if it improves in a year?

Allie

 

[Wade E]

I have not tried bottling it as Sangria but do take a Blackberry wine and some Strawberry/Kiwi and mix up a batch with ice. As far as labels go, maybe you can use the Avey labels that stick on.

 

[Tall Grass]

[edit this whole post to nothing because I realize now it made no sense after reading the original post again ]

 

[BettyJ]

Sangria

I did not bottle any of that batch of red wine - (the Sangria was in high demand by all). I just made my second batch of Sangria and am almost through that as well (at least 30 bottles gone - still have 15 or so remaining and saved a few bottles of plain wine).

However, I have one just like it (it's SunCal Merlot) - just racked it, actually, that I used bananas per your suggestion on in the primary (+added brown raisons and peppercorn juice), so I have higher hopes for that one. I also have the tannin coming that you add after fermentation, so between all of that I hope to have drinkable wine at some point.

The avery labels are what I am using and they don't do well when wet (the Sangria has to be chilled). I have sprayed them with all sorts of coatings, which just makes them slimy and the paper gets thin looking too.

The oldest bottle I have left of the first batch is maybe 4 months old (opened one recently and it was great).

 

[St Allie]

hehehehe Betty,

you need a bigger cellar!

I'm doing a cheap cellar craft merlot at present, did all the same things you did except the peppercorn juice..

by the way? this secret sangria recipe of yours?

I want it.............

hehehhehehe


Allie

 

[BettyJ]

secret recipe

For you? I'll cave It has something to do with my mango + banana berry infused white rum (had to improvise)... otherwise, its just a mix lime, orange and pineapple juice. I found some wonderful recipes for making your own liquors (will look it up and post).

 

[BettyJ]

making flavored liquors

http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs/flavors.htm#Melon

 

[St Allie]

thankyou so much!

I'm going to do something exotic next time we have a spitroast here..

Allie

 

[BettyJ]

Spitroast?

Is that like a barbecue? I don't add any sugar to the liquor - just the fruit and shake it up every time I think about it.... I haven't added glycerin, but you can. Rum is cheap here and pretty good, so that's why I'm using it instead of vodka.

I will have to list out my wines like you do in the tagline section - I have 4 5 gallon batches going now I'm officially addicted!

 

[Madriver Wines]

Spit roast?? Man I am in, dont wait on me though!

 

[St Allie]

spit roast is a whole lamb or pig on a spit ..
takes all day to cook usually..

add men and beer

and it's a male bonding moment....

heheheh

Allie

 

[St Allie]

Forgot to ask you Betty,

How's your mango wine coming along ?.. is it clearing?

did you make the banana wine in the end?

Allie

 

[BettyJ]

Mango and banana wine

Yes - thanks for asking! The mango / banana/ pineapple (+ white grape juice) is clearing nicely.

My banana / riesling combo I started around the same time (this is the one I was worried about). They are progressing almost at the same pace - both of these had off flavors and smell during primary, which I panicked about early- . I just racked both of them for the second time and they are clearing well - the fermentation seems to have slowed and the taste is dry and nice with almost no off flavors taste or smell. I am planning on doing an F pac for them, but will try to leave them alone for another few months or so.

I now have 5 gal of lime wine going (found a lime tree nearby, which made this cost-effective) just racked to secondary yesterday. They say this one needs a minimum of 1 yr to drink. Smells delish!

All of these + my merlot makes 4 (5 gal size) in secondary. I also have 2 gallons of the natal plum started 3 months back, which is shaping up also. It is a bright pink color and is finally clearing and smelling better. The alcohol seems very high in this one - may have to dilute it down.

My next project will be the banana wine (your recipe).... I do need a bigger cellar!

 

[St Allie]

Hi Betty,

Isn't it funny how some ferments smell weird.?. my chili wine was like that.. I think most of the chili smell came off in fermentation.. has a nice muted kick to it now.. waiting to see how that one ages.

Interested in your lime wine..lucky you... having access to a tree of them, they're expensive to buy here....bet it smells fantastic... I have a tonne of mandarines and lemons at the moment.( and grapefruit almost ready to pick). How much fruit did you use per gallon?


That natal plum sounds pretty..would love to see the colour of it if you can get a pic of it loaded.

Allie

 

[BettyJ]

Lime Wine

Hi Allie
On my Lime wine I used 150 limes (they are small) and froze them first to get more juice which netted nearly 1 gal. The recipe had the zest optional, so I left it out this time (didn't want bitterness). Of course I also added bananas with skins to the mix and 2 cups of riesling juice concentrate + all the regular stuff to balance acid and SG.... It was around 4 gallons after racking so I added 1 gallon of the banana riesling leftover to the mix for topping (I'm an improvisor). It is still bubbling away in secondary (after 10 days of the same in primary) which makes me think I racked too soon. Lots of lees on this one (looks bad - but smells and tastes yummy!).

I will try to get some photos (my carboys are the blue plastic water jugs, so this is challenging) and keep you updated.
-Betty

 

[St Allie]

I recently bought a few of those water bottles ( 2 and 3 gallon size).. they're really handy for odd sized batches. hehehe the natal plum will just look purple then..you might like to bottle that in clear glass if it stays pretty.

Aah .. wondered if you had used grape concentrate for the lime wine. not the easiest stuff to find here. 150 limes is a good haul off one tree! Still... someone on here suggested grapefruit and kiwi as being a good combination.. So might fiddle with a recipe for that.

and yes to the improvising..I throw all sorts of leftovers together and cross my fingers a lot!..

Allie

 

[BettyJ]

lime tree

yes - the limes are in clusters like grapes and there are many more! What do you think about the zest? I have even seen recipes that, if I am reading correctly just call for the zest - not even the fruit juice!. Can that be true?

Grapefruit and Kiwi sounds great together! Can't get that here... oranges though. Bananas and pineapple are the most plentiful fruit year-round. Ginger is also widely available.

PS: I made a rice ginger wine test batch 8 months ago and just bottled it. It's not that great, but maybe in time... Now THAT was stinky!

 

[St Allie]

I know 150 limes sounds a bit daunting to zest.. had you thought about just zesting them anyway and freezing it? Use it in something else at a later date?.. ginger and lime are a great combination.. I zest lemons anyway when using them for other things.. and use the zest for cakes, stir fries and curries ...Limes are so expensive here, can't bear to throw away the zest. Lime zest is really strong so yes some recipes don't use the juice.

I make up this syrup and bottle it for summer..
basically the zest and juice of 6 lemons/limes.. 6 cups of sugar.. 6 cups water.. 1 tablespoon of citric acid.
zest fruit. place zest, water and sugar in pan and bring to boil, stir occasionally. take off the heat add citric acid and juice... bottle in warm sterile bottles ( or quart jars) seal and use within a year. ( do a bulk lot all at once)

I don't strain the zest out but you can.. you can dilute as a drink ( with gin)over ice in summer .. or have it as a hot toddy in winter with a dash of brandy.. however I have tossed a bottle of it into my leftover wine mixes and omitted the extra acid.. It ferments and comes out a soft table wine. Can be used to backsweeten too..( strain out the zest though)

is the ginger/rice one improving? have always been put off the rice type recipes.. just sounds messy.

Allie

 

[BettyJ]

Wow

Wow - who knew what you could do with zest? Seriously though, I am going to try that very very soon. Like I said, the tree has many many limes still hanging there

Yes - the rice wine was icky and smelly most of the time - it has cleared fairly well now and is improving, but still not great.