TasunkaWitko
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Chokecherry Wine - My First Attempt
Those of us who live in “Chokecherry Country” know that we have a great thing going with these wonderful little spheres of purplish-black love, known scientifically as Prunus virginiana. Chokecherries are an integral part of the culture and the people who live with them, from the Native American tribes who gathered and used them hundreds (and probably thousands) of years ago, to the pioneers and settlers who arrived to tame the land and discovered an irresistible treat waiting for them when they arrived.
All my life, I’ve enjoyed chokecherries, mostly in the form of syrup and jelly, but occasionally in a few other creative ways. Late last year, I even brewed a chokecherry-wheat ale that came out really well, and I intend to brew it again later this year. But in spite of the fact that I have lived in Montana and the Dakotas all of my life, one of the most popular ways to experience the chokecherry is one that I had never tried before - in wine.
Last year, I set out to remedy that situation when I picked several pounds of chokecherries in the mountains south of home with my youngest son. It was one of those late-summer mornings that exist to let you know that autumn is approaching; cool, foggy and with occasional drizzles of light rain. The aroma of wet leaves and grass was heavy in the air, and in many ways, it was nearly a perfect time to be where I was and doing what I was doing. Interestingly, the chokecherries proved to be difficult to find last year, due to a late-spring frost; however, after much searching outside of our usual areas, we did find a couple of nice groves that contained a wonderful harvest of plump, ripe chokecherries. I made some of them into syrup, and I used a small portion for the aforementioned chokecherry-wheat ale that I brewed...and the rest eventually became my first attempt at chokecherry wine.
The Wonderful, Thoughtful and Beautiful Mrs. Tas, knowing my desire to learn about making wine, bought this 1-gallon kit for my last birthday:
http://mastervintner.com/master-vintner-fresh-harvest-fruit-winemaking-kit/
What I especially like about this kit is that it simply contains the equipment and necessary additives for making wine; the beauty of it is that you get to supply all of your own fruit for making it, and it can be whatever you want. You can get it at the market, grow it in your garden...or you can gather what Nature provides. The possibilities are endless, and I am grateful to her for choosing this option, because I feel that it would be much more rewarding to go this route, than to make a “normal” wine using pre-packaged ingredients from a factory somewhere. This type of venture appeals to me, a descendant of immigrants, farmers, gardeners and gatherers going all the way back through their migrations to their origins; Montana, North Dakota, Ukraine, The Black Forest Region of Germany, and finally to 18th Century Alsace - and before that, as well.
There are probably hundreds of different recipes for chokecherry wine out there on hand-written notecards and in kitchen cupboards all across the northern United States and Southern Canada, often written with vague, generalised instructions using archaic terminology or esoteric-sounding directives such as “soak chokecherries in water until a white film grows over them, then add bread yeast.” There are also quite a few recipes to be found on the internet; however, it seemed to me that many of those recipes will contain blends with other fruits or wines, or that they call for the wind to be infused with additives, adjuncts and other ingredients that are - in my opinion - distractions from the true character of the chokecherry. In most cases, the recipes that I found are for very large batches of wine, calling for 50 or 60 pounds of chokecherries at a time and methods that could almost be on an industrial scale. Even most of the smaller recipes were for a minimum of 20 gallons of wine, an amount that would take me decades to consume.
For my own requirements, a small, low-maintenance, home-based batch that would be typical of any rural farmhouse wine, there were a few recipes out there; all were similar, but there were differences in the details that were enough to be a bit confusing for someone who has never made “real” wine before. Luckily, I found salvation in the form of a friendly and helpful woman on a home-brewing forum that I am a member of who goes by the moniker of “Yooper.” Being from the Midwest, she has been making chokecherry wine for many years; consequently, she is very well-versed on the fundamentals of the process, the pitfalls and the dozens of other little things that will really help someone who is starting out. Thanks to her experience and mentorship, I was able to bring some order to the chaos and finally get this project started after several years of wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness. I am very grateful to her for all of her patient and valuable help with this project!
Here is her recipe, scaled down to 1 gallon:
Due to several factors, including my father’s recollections from watching his own father make chokecherry wine years ago, my attempt was slightly different; however, It seems that the essentials should be close enough to get things started so that I can learn what I am doing and why I am doing it. My goal was for a slightly- (but not overly-) sweet, fruity wine that has plenty of rich, chokecherry flavour. Once I am able to see the results of this batch, I will be able to adjust toward that end, if necessary.
Here’s how my first batch of wine came together (deviations from Yooper’s original recipe are in parenthesis, for comparison):
I began my chokecherry wine on Saturday, February 27th, 2016. Since beginning this project, I have been trying to follow the basic procedure outlined in Yooper’s instructions, but there have been a couple of minor differences. With my work and home schedule, I’ve only been able to stir the chokecherry must once each day, rather than twice. Another difference is that I’ve never used a hydrometer before and don’t yet have all of what I need to use one in order to check specific gravity, final gravity etc.; I’ve since ordered the modest equipment that I need, so I will have it by the next time I start a batch of wine. This will help me keep better track of what my wine is doing at various stages of its progress, and will allow me to accurately measure the alcohol content, as well.
At the time of this writing, I am still in the beginning stages of fermentation. I will keep a record of my progress here on this thread as I learn what I am doing. This will serve the dual purpose allowing me to retrace my steps next time - adjusting when necessary - while also (hopefully) providing useful information for anyone who is wanting to start their own batch of chokecherry wine. This and subsequent posts will contain terminology that might be new to those who have not made wine before; to be honest, I am still learning many of these terms myself, so my understanding of them is still rather superficial. I might know some definitions, but it will take more experience before I am able to grasp the context of and interrelationships between many fundamental aspects of home winemaking. I will do my best to explain some of these terms when and where I can. If you have questions, please be sure to ask, or to consult many of the excellent resources available.
Here is a record of my progress up until this point:
That’s where I am at so far - I’ll take a look at it this weekend and see what I’ve got.
Those of us who live in “Chokecherry Country” know that we have a great thing going with these wonderful little spheres of purplish-black love, known scientifically as Prunus virginiana. Chokecherries are an integral part of the culture and the people who live with them, from the Native American tribes who gathered and used them hundreds (and probably thousands) of years ago, to the pioneers and settlers who arrived to tame the land and discovered an irresistible treat waiting for them when they arrived.
All my life, I’ve enjoyed chokecherries, mostly in the form of syrup and jelly, but occasionally in a few other creative ways. Late last year, I even brewed a chokecherry-wheat ale that came out really well, and I intend to brew it again later this year. But in spite of the fact that I have lived in Montana and the Dakotas all of my life, one of the most popular ways to experience the chokecherry is one that I had never tried before - in wine.
Last year, I set out to remedy that situation when I picked several pounds of chokecherries in the mountains south of home with my youngest son. It was one of those late-summer mornings that exist to let you know that autumn is approaching; cool, foggy and with occasional drizzles of light rain. The aroma of wet leaves and grass was heavy in the air, and in many ways, it was nearly a perfect time to be where I was and doing what I was doing. Interestingly, the chokecherries proved to be difficult to find last year, due to a late-spring frost; however, after much searching outside of our usual areas, we did find a couple of nice groves that contained a wonderful harvest of plump, ripe chokecherries. I made some of them into syrup, and I used a small portion for the aforementioned chokecherry-wheat ale that I brewed...and the rest eventually became my first attempt at chokecherry wine.
The Wonderful, Thoughtful and Beautiful Mrs. Tas, knowing my desire to learn about making wine, bought this 1-gallon kit for my last birthday:
http://mastervintner.com/master-vintner-fresh-harvest-fruit-winemaking-kit/
What I especially like about this kit is that it simply contains the equipment and necessary additives for making wine; the beauty of it is that you get to supply all of your own fruit for making it, and it can be whatever you want. You can get it at the market, grow it in your garden...or you can gather what Nature provides. The possibilities are endless, and I am grateful to her for choosing this option, because I feel that it would be much more rewarding to go this route, than to make a “normal” wine using pre-packaged ingredients from a factory somewhere. This type of venture appeals to me, a descendant of immigrants, farmers, gardeners and gatherers going all the way back through their migrations to their origins; Montana, North Dakota, Ukraine, The Black Forest Region of Germany, and finally to 18th Century Alsace - and before that, as well.
There are probably hundreds of different recipes for chokecherry wine out there on hand-written notecards and in kitchen cupboards all across the northern United States and Southern Canada, often written with vague, generalised instructions using archaic terminology or esoteric-sounding directives such as “soak chokecherries in water until a white film grows over them, then add bread yeast.” There are also quite a few recipes to be found on the internet; however, it seemed to me that many of those recipes will contain blends with other fruits or wines, or that they call for the wind to be infused with additives, adjuncts and other ingredients that are - in my opinion - distractions from the true character of the chokecherry. In most cases, the recipes that I found are for very large batches of wine, calling for 50 or 60 pounds of chokecherries at a time and methods that could almost be on an industrial scale. Even most of the smaller recipes were for a minimum of 20 gallons of wine, an amount that would take me decades to consume.
For my own requirements, a small, low-maintenance, home-based batch that would be typical of any rural farmhouse wine, there were a few recipes out there; all were similar, but there were differences in the details that were enough to be a bit confusing for someone who has never made “real” wine before. Luckily, I found salvation in the form of a friendly and helpful woman on a home-brewing forum that I am a member of who goes by the moniker of “Yooper.” Being from the Midwest, she has been making chokecherry wine for many years; consequently, she is very well-versed on the fundamentals of the process, the pitfalls and the dozens of other little things that will really help someone who is starting out. Thanks to her experience and mentorship, I was able to bring some order to the chaos and finally get this project started after several years of wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness. I am very grateful to her for all of her patient and valuable help with this project!
Here is her recipe, scaled down to 1 gallon:
Due to several factors, including my father’s recollections from watching his own father make chokecherry wine years ago, my attempt was slightly different; however, It seems that the essentials should be close enough to get things started so that I can learn what I am doing and why I am doing it. My goal was for a slightly- (but not overly-) sweet, fruity wine that has plenty of rich, chokecherry flavour. Once I am able to see the results of this batch, I will be able to adjust toward that end, if necessary.
Here’s how my first batch of wine came together (deviations from Yooper’s original recipe are in parenthesis, for comparison):
I began my chokecherry wine on Saturday, February 27th, 2016. Since beginning this project, I have been trying to follow the basic procedure outlined in Yooper’s instructions, but there have been a couple of minor differences. With my work and home schedule, I’ve only been able to stir the chokecherry must once each day, rather than twice. Another difference is that I’ve never used a hydrometer before and don’t yet have all of what I need to use one in order to check specific gravity, final gravity etc.; I’ve since ordered the modest equipment that I need, so I will have it by the next time I start a batch of wine. This will help me keep better track of what my wine is doing at various stages of its progress, and will allow me to accurately measure the alcohol content, as well.
At the time of this writing, I am still in the beginning stages of fermentation. I will keep a record of my progress here on this thread as I learn what I am doing. This will serve the dual purpose allowing me to retrace my steps next time - adjusting when necessary - while also (hopefully) providing useful information for anyone who is wanting to start their own batch of chokecherry wine. This and subsequent posts will contain terminology that might be new to those who have not made wine before; to be honest, I am still learning many of these terms myself, so my understanding of them is still rather superficial. I might know some definitions, but it will take more experience before I am able to grasp the context of and interrelationships between many fundamental aspects of home winemaking. I will do my best to explain some of these terms when and where I can. If you have questions, please be sure to ask, or to consult many of the excellent resources available.
Here is a record of my progress up until this point:
3 March 2016
I stirred my chokecherry must again when I got home from work last night. Temperatures were holding steady at 71 degrees, right where they need to be.
Everything looked, smelled and tasted the same as before...only more advanced, better, I'm not sure what the proper term would be. But it definitely seems that we are moving along well. There are still no big, billowing piles of foam on top of the must, as I would have expected before I started this project; however, there were definite visual signs that things were "moving around" as fermentation continues, and I have come to the conclusion that for wine, this must be normal.
I looked in this morning, as well - just a quick peek to make sure that bandits hadn't run off with my wine. Temperature was still the same - 71 degrees - and the wine-ish, chokecherry aroma was really smelling beautiful.
When I got home from work tonight, I stirred the chokecherry must. Ambient temperature was 72, so I bumped the temp down just a tiny fraction, to keep it in the neighbourhood of 70.
Appearance and aroma were as in previous posts, but apparently further along and more advanced. I did see a tiny bit of foam on top of the must, and a few bubbles rising. Squeezing the mesh bag, it was evident that nearly all of the chokecherry pulp is gone, leaving behind only pits and remnants of skins, as expected.
Tomorrow or Saturday, I'll be racking the wine to the secondary fermentation; then the wait begins!
According to schedule, the primary fermentation should be complete tomorrow or Saturday, if my calculations are correct. I will rack this wonderful stuff to a fermenter at that time, and as this wine progresses to what will hopefully be a wonderful end.
What shall my next project be? I'm not sure. It is going to be a little early for dandelion wine, rhubarb wine and any other fruit wine that comes to mind using locally grown or gathered ingredients. I could pick up some good quality IQF fruit of some variety; another option that I have heard of would be to buy fruit puree or possibly use those cans of "Oregon" fruit. I assume that the sugar needs to be accounted for, but a few folks have reported great results. Other options are out there, too - banana wine, perhaps? Or maybe even a second batch of chokecherries - I have more that I got from my dad, so more batches are possible.
I'll think of something....
4 March 2016
I took a quick look this morning - The chokecherries are smelling beautiful - I'm loving it! Ambient temperature was right between 70 and 71 degrees - I think things are going just fine!
(later)
I stirred the must when I got home from work tonight. Ambient temperatures were the same, right about 72 degrees, and it smelled wonderful. As predicted, we're pretty much down to skins and pits in the mesh bag, and the must, while cloudy, had wonderful burgundy colour.
Today marks "Day #5" since I pitched the yeast; there were no visible or obvious signs of activity, but I am certain that fermentation is progressing right along and is transitioning to a slower pace. By the time I begin my next batch, I'll be able to do a better job of keeping track of this; but for now, I think it is ready to rack to its secondary fermentation in my 1-gallon glass fermenter. I will get this done tomorrow or Sunday, as time permits.
I've been wanting to get photos of my progress, but at the moment I'm limited to the mediocre ones that my phone and iPod can take. Here's one that I took after stirring the must this evening:
5 March 2016
Well, today I did receive the hydrometer testing tube in the mail. It was also the day that, by the schedule, I should rack over from my primary bucket to my gallon-sized glass fermenter. I went ahead and did exactly that this evening, and here is what I ended up with:
I then tested my must; if I am reading the hydrometer correctly, the measurement is exactly 1.000; it is definitely no lower than that.
The fermenter is currently sitting in my closet, protected from any light that might come into contact with it and finishing the last stages of fermentation while the sediment (lees) settle to the bottom, clearing the wine. As you can see in the photo above, we've got some pretty cloudy stuff, at the moment. This is, I am sure, due to all of the skin and pulp that was fine enough to get through the nylon mesh bag during primary fermentation. Based on my readings, I am sure that it will settle down and clear out quite nicely; I also suspect that as the wine clears, the true, deep burgundy colour of the chokecherry will become evident, as I have seen with many chokecherry wines. But, since this is my first batch, it is all new to me; time will tell.
Right now, with all of the floating particulates, the must is a bit sour and bitter (tannic, maybe?), as would be expected with chokecherry pulp and skins; however, as the wine settles out and clears, I am guessing that this will ease off as well, allowing the real essence of the chokecherry to come through.
I might take a peek at it tomorrow, just to see what's going on and to make sure that the temperatures etc are where they need to be. After that, I will do my best to leave it alone and forget about it for at least a week, in order to let the wine do its thing and come into its own.
More as it happens etc. &c.
That’s where I am at so far - I’ll take a look at it this weekend and see what I’ve got.
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