Other Finer Wines Frutta

[Khristyjeff]

Wanted to report on the FW Frutta Blackberry that you can see by the tag we bottled just shy of 2 months after pitching the yeast. We added the sweetener pack as instructed, then later added about 1/4 -1/3 of the second sweetener pack which raised the SG to 1.005. It was just the right amount of sweetness for us and totally tasted like delicious blackberries. My wife and I had not considered ourselves fans of blackberry anything, but this wine is fantastic. Also, there is room for those with a sweet tooth to add more sweetener, or for those that like it dryer to reduce the sweetness. We're really impressed with the results. We want to try the FW Blueberry and hope they might offer a peach in the future.

We're interested in hearing from others who have tried the FW Frutta series to compare results. Thanks.

 

[oppyland]

Looks great! I haven't tried any of their fruit kits - maybe partially because I'm afraid they'll be a lot better than the stuff I make with harvested fruit.

 

[Jovimaple]

We're interested in hearing from others who have tried the FW Frutta series to compare results. Thanks.

My FWK strawberry and blackberry are both ready for bottling- hopefully that will happen next weekend. At last racking/tasting, they were very good - lots of fruitiness and body.

We like ours sweet so I used the whole 2nd package of wine conditioner.

I split off 1 gallon of each and added some chocolate extract I made last year (cacao nibs in vodka for several months) so I have some (hopefully) fun tastings of those, as well. If they need more time, I may hold off on bottling them for a bit.

I, too, am interested in peach. Also, I would love a FWK black raspberry as well as a red raspberry.

 

[Dan M]

Has anyone made the FWK Blueberry Frutta kit? That's the one I wanted, but it was sold out. I instead bought the strawberry; no regrets. It has amazing strawberry flavor and odor. I'll soon do the final sweetening and get ready to bottle. I expect this wine will blow away any Island Mist flavor.

 

[Khristyjeff]

So far have only done the Frutta Blackberry which is amazing. Next will be the Blueberry.

 

[cenk57]

Wanted to report on the FW Frutta Blackberry that you can see by the tag we bottled just shy of 2 months after pitching the yeast. We added the sweetener pack as instructed, then later added about 1/4 -1/3 of the second sweetener pack which raised the SG to 1.005. It was just the right amount of sweetness for us and totally tasted like delicious blackberries. My wife and I had not considered ourselves fans of blackberry anything, but this wine is fantastic. Also, there is room for those with a sweet tooth to add more sweetener, or for those that like it dryer to reduce the sweetness. We're really impressed with the results. We want to try the FW Blueberry and hope they might offer a peach in the future.

We're interested in hearing from others who have tried the FW Frutta series to compare results. Thanks.

I have a FW blackberry being delivered today. Considering throwing some oak in the primary. Do you feel it has enough body to oak?

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

Blueberry? I thought there was only BlackBerry and Strawberry options. I'll have to go check out LP's website and see, sounds good

 

[Dan M]

Blueberry? I thought there was only BlackBerry and Strawberry options. I'll have to go check out LP's website and see, sounds good

I also saw the blueberry on LP's website and then it was gone. Not sure if it sold out quickly or what. That's why I asked earlier if anybody had made it. There were no replies...

 

[Dan M]

So far have only done the Frutta Blackberry which is amazing. Next will be the Blueberry.

Folks seem real happy with the Blackberry. I just bottled my strawberry and it's pretty good too. The must looked to be all strawberry (I thought it would be more grapey) and the smell is fantastic. I did add both sweetener packs plus 2 more cups of sugar. It still tastes a little tart but that is the nature of strawberries, IMO. I'll be sampling it again in a few weeks after bottle shock has subsided. I'll soon be bottling my Super Tuscan and I expect great things there as well. It's gonna be a great summer!

 

[Jovimaple]

Folks seem real happy with the Blackberry. I just bottled my strawberry and it's pretty good too. The must looked to be all strawberry (I thought it would be more grapey) and the smell is fantastic. I did add both sweetener packs plus 2 more cups of sugar. It still tastes a little tart but that is the nature of strawberries, IMO. I'll be sampling it again in a few weeks after bottle shock has subsided. I'll soon be bottling my Super Tuscan and I expect great things there as well. It's gonna be a great summer!

I also added both sweetener packs and it's not quite sweet enough for our tastes. To be fair, we do like our wine sweet.

If/when I make it again, I will probably add more sugar to backsweeten, depending upon how this batch tastes after aging a while.

The strawberry taste and smell are both phenomenal - way better than the batch I made from frozen strawberries!

As I understand it, these kits are pure fruit, not a grape base with flavoring.

 

[Bmd2k1]

What ABV are folks getting without having to bump up the OG by adding any sugar, fpac etc?

Thanks!

 

[Khristyjeff]

I have a FW blackberry being delivered today. Considering throwing some oak in the primary. Do you feel it has enough body to oak?

Not sure about the oak. You could finish it out, back sweeten, then decide after tasting if oak would be to your liking. Enjoy!

 

[Jovimaple]

What ABV are folks getting without having to bump up the OG by adding any sugar, fpac etc?

Thanks!

I followed the directions exactly - no additions - and ended up with 13.1% on my blackberry and 13.7% on my strawberry. (Starting OG - final OG multipled times 131.25)

 

[Jovimaple]

I have a FW blackberry being delivered today. Considering throwing some oak in the primary. Do you feel it has enough body to oak?

You could definitely oak after fermentation is complete. I don't know that you need it in primary.

 

[Dan M]

What ABV are folks getting without having to bump up the OG by adding any sugar, fpac etc?

My strawberry was at 14%. I then added the sweetener and topped up the carboy with water (per the directions).

 

[Dan M]

FYI - Matt from LP told me the FWK Blueberry Frutta kits should be back in stock in about a month.

 

[winemaker81]

I have a FW blackberry being delivered today. Considering throwing some oak in the primary. Do you feel it has enough body to oak?

Adding fermentation oak should help preserve color and round out the mouth feel. It might increase body, but shouldn't add much (if any) oak flavoring. I'd go for it.

 

[David Violante]

Bryan, I think I remember you calling this sacrificial oak and you use it shredded? How much do you use again?

 

[winemaker81]

Bryan, I think I remember you calling this sacrificial oak and you use it shredded? How much do you use again?

Fermentation oak is referred to as "sacrificial" as the tannin extracted from the oak drops post-fermentation, preserving the natural grape tannin. This also helps stabilize color and improve mouth feel. There are numerous types of tannins, and the grape tannins (yes, multiple types just in the grapes alone) are better in wine. I've read a few papers on the subject and honestly spent more time improving my vocabulary than understanding the details.

The material I've purchased the last few years from North Mountain Supply says to use 1 to 1-1/2 cups per 6 gallons of white, and 2 to 3 cups for red.

 

[David Violante]

Thank you... great explanation... I'll have to add this to my wine making process chart. I checked out the website and it looks like so much is out of stock. I ran into that issue with the ingredient list for the root beer mead and had to use several different suppliers. I also found your posting about them here, great write up. Thank you again for all the information...