Cranberry wine needing something

vernsgal · Nov 19, 2013

My cranberry wine (well, truthfully it's lingonberry, it tastes like cranberry) needs something to help with the tartness.Would oaking it help ? if so what kind would you recommend? I thought a vanilla bean but then couldn't really imagine vanilla and cranberry . Any thoughts?

Pumpkinman · Nov 19, 2013

Oaking might help, I'd get a tannin such as tannin riche, it imparts the perception of sweetness that helps to offset some of the tart.
I'm not sure if these berries contain malic acid, I believe they do, but i'd have to check, other than that some minor back sweetening.

Runningwolf · Nov 19, 2013

Kim, another great idea is make some Niagara. Niagara and Cranberry is a totally awesome blend. Even if you used Welches I think you'll like it. Play around with a few different ratio's till you find what you like. If you don't want to go this route you could try adding more sugar to offset the acid.

vernsgal · Nov 19, 2013

Dan this is probably a dumb question but, what's Niagara?

Runningwolf · Nov 19, 2013

The two most popular wines in the East is probably Concord and Niagara. They are both natives and cold hardy grapes.

RegionRat · Nov 19, 2013

Runningwolf said:
Kim, another great idea is make some Niagara. Niagara and Cranberry is a totally awesome blend. Even if you used Welches I think you'll like it. Play around with a few different ratio's till you find what you like. If you don't want to go this route you could try adding more sugar to offset the acid.

Would putting a couple cans of frozen niagara in the must end up having the same taste as making two separate wines, one cranberry and one niagara, and blending after aging?

RR

Runningwolf · Nov 19, 2013

It's possible but you have no control on the outcome.It is almost always better to blend after aging so you can do exact bench tests and blend accordingly.

vernsgal · Nov 20, 2013

Well being as indecisive as I am,lol I think I'll do kinda both your suggestions. I have some french oak so I'll throw some in for a bit and I'll also start a batch (if I can find Niagara) of wine to blend with if still needed.I figure this way if the oak isn't enough I won't have to wait for the other wine to blend with. And if I don't need to blend it just means more wine!