Looking for a semisweet red

[Billdean]

I am fairly new to wine making. Doing it for 1 year now. I have done only a few different wines. All but one were at least drinkable. The few that I have tried have been WineExperts Moscato 1 gallon wine kit, Muscat grape concentrate juice, Welch Red Concentrate, and Skeeter Pee. I like semisweet white wines. I have never been much of a wine drinker but I am trying different one. The wines I have made were all made close to the same time, with the oldest being Welch’s red. I have always liked Welch‘s grape juice so I thought I would try and make some wine from it. When I first tried it, it was pretty sweet, but Ok. I just open another bottle of the Welch’s after about 9 months of aging. It seems to have a slightly different taste and does not seem as sweet. All in all I like it but was pretty expensive to make.

Fast forward to today. I just ordered a Moscato Finer Wine Kit from Label Peelers. I would also like to find a wine similar to the Welch”s Red that I may like. Semisweet. I am not a fan of dry wine. At least not yet. Would anyone have any ideas of what to try in a semisweet red wine? The best wine I made so far was, well there was 2. Muscat grape from concentrates, and Skeeter Pee.

 

[Raptor99]

Try making fruit wine. You don't have to limit yourself to grapes.Most fruit wine is better slightly back sweetened, so it might be something that you would like.

 

[winemaker81]

Something to consider is that you can backsweeten ANY wine to your own taste. Grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are traditionally made dry, but the Wine Police will not raid your home if you backsweeten it.

If you like Welches, try Vintner's Best Concord concentrate. These concentrates are not pure "whatever is on the label" as they contain apple and/or pear juice, but they make a good sipping wine. The gallon jug reconstitutes to 5 US gallons (19 liters), so after racking you'll have less than 19 liters. You can backsweeten with Welches froze grape juice concentrate (don't dilute it, thaw the concentrate and add it, as-is, to the wine, AFTER stabilizing). That may produce exactly what you're looking for.

 

[Billdean]

Try making fruit wine. You don't have to limit yourself to grapes.Most fruit wine is better slightly back sweetened, so it might be something that you would like.

For some reason that never accrued To me, but I have been reading about Dave’s Dragon Blood. I might give that a try because of all the reviews on it. Maybe just try a 1 gallon batch. I guess just divide everything by six.

 

[Billdean]

Something to consider is that you can backsweeten ANY wine to your own taste. Grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are traditionally made dry, but the Wine Police will not raid your home if you backsweeten it.

If you like Welches, try Vintner's Best Concord concentrate. These concentrates are not pure "whatever is on the label" as they contain apple and/or pear juice, but they make a good sipping wine. The gallon jug reconstitutes to 5 US gallons (19 liters), so after racking you'll have less than 19 liters. You can backsweeten with Welches froze grape juice concentrate (don't dilute it, thaw the concentrate and add it, as-is, to the wine, AFTER stabilizing). That may produce exactly what you're looking for.

Thank you. That would open up a lot of different wines to me. Maybe I could buy a couple of different brands of red wines from the store and add sugar to see what I might like. Or would it work like that?

 

[vinny]

I made a WinExpert Diablo Rojo. Pretty sure I have no bottles left and it was not the first kit I made. I have also made higher end kits and they are still kicking around. It is off dry, but you can increase sweetness to your preference if you like it sweeter.

I made mine dry. I did not add the flavor pack to sweeten. I kept saying there are 4 reds in there and 2 whites. Mix it up. No, I like this one. It has a nice berry taste. Just putting it out there because it is a cheaper kit. Under $4 a bottle and the reviews at my house are good. I was thinking of picking up another 1 or 2 for the next round.

 

[vinny]

For some reason that never accrued To me, but I have been reading about Dave’s Dragon Blood. I might give that a try because of all the reviews on it. Maybe just try a 1 gallon batch. I guess just divide everything by six.

I have already done the maths so I might as well make myself useful...

A single gallon is

4 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon
1 lb triple berry
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tannin
1/2 nutrient
1/4 energizer
1 gallon water.

 

[Dwerth]

Thank you. That would open up a lot of different wines to me. Maybe I could buy a couple of different brands of red wines from the store and add sugar to see what I might like. Or would it work like that?

If you go this route (and it is not a bad route to go down...for science!) make sure to stabilize with sorbate before adding sugar, to protect against refermentation (should any little yeasties make it through commercial polishing).

 

[vinny]

If you go this route (and it is not a bad route to go down...for science!) make sure to stabilize with sorbate before adding sugar, to protect against refermentation (should any little yeasties make it through commercial polishing).

Valid point, but I feel this experiment was more considered as opening a bottle and increasing sweetness to drink immediately.

Sorbate would only be required if you intended to cork the bottle back up and store to let the flavors blend.

 

[Dwerth]

Valid point, but I feel this experiment was more considered as opening a bottle and increasing sweetness do drink immediately.

Sorbate would only be required if you intended to cork the bottle back up and store to let the flavors blend.

That is a fair point. I was going for more of a feel of what a home wine would taste like with backsweetening as part of the process, followed by time to let the flavors meld again.
Different methods for different aims.

 

[winemaker81]

Thank you. That would open up a lot of different wines to me. Maybe I could buy a couple of different brands of red wines from the store and add sugar to see what I might like. Or would it work like that?

It works exactly like that!

Folks often have a mistaken idea that wine is some sacred thing. It's not -- it's just a beverage. In some cases a REALLY good beverage, but just that.

A common suggestion on the forum is "bench testing", e.g., pour 4 or 6 oz of wine in a large glass and do "stuff" to it, to see what works and what you like. Make sugar syrup (boil 1 cup water, stir in 2 cups sugar until clear, let cool). Pour four 6 oz glasses of a wine.

For this I switch to metric, as the math is easier. Get a medical syringe, like one for medicine (no needle). 6 oz ~= 180 ml. To the first glass add 3 ml syrup, then 6, 9, and 12 to the next three. Stir well and taste. This will give you an idea IF you like it, and if so, how much sugar you like. Note that my numbers are just a starting point -- experiment to figure out what you like.

Keep in mind that all wines are different -- you may like one brand Merlot with 1% sugar, but another needs 3%.

Have fun!

 

[vinny]

That is a fair point. I was going for more of a feel of what a home wine would taste like with backsweetening as part of the process, followed by time to let the flavors meld again.
Different methods for different aims.

I drink bone dry wine so I am chiming in more to get some good advice offered on how best to do this if it was going to be a sweeten and drink affair.

I made a kit and skipped a large flavor pack. It tastes good, but I opened one having a glass of my best kit and thought it tasted slightly unbalanced. I took another glass and added 1/4 to a 1/2 oz of wine and pinched in some sugar just to see the effects.

It tasted like wine and white sugar.

Simple syrup the better option, or giving the wine a few weeks to mellow after backsweetening a better option?

 

[vinny]

Make sugar syrup (boil 1 cup water, stir in 2 cups sugar until clear, let cool). Pour four 6 oz glasses of a wine.

Got me while I was typing this out.

It would be helpful if you could be a little faster to respond in the future!

 

[winemaker81]

Got me while I was typing this out.

It would be helpful if you could be a little faster to respond in the future!

Nope. It's your job to read and type slower.

 

[vinny]

I

Will

Work

On

It......

 

[Billdean]

I have already done the maths so I might as well make myself useful...

A single gallon is

4 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon
1 lb triple berry
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tannin
1/2 nutrient
1/4 energizer
1 gallon water.

Thank you Vinny!!

 

[heatherd]

Another option would be to do Olive Garden wine, which is Montepulciano that is sweetened and served chilled.
https://labelpeelers.com/wine-making/wine-kits/reserve/reserve-italian-montepulciano-10l-wine-kit/

 

[winemaker81]

Another option would be to do Olive Garden wine, which is Montepulciano that is sweetened and served chilled.

I didn't know that's what OG does.

@Billdean, something to consider is that you do not need to backsweeten the entire batch to the same level. As an example, you could divide the batch in 3 portions (~8 liters each), and leave one dry, backsweeten the second lightly, and backsweeten the third even more. This allows you to experiment, and you can keep sugar syrup on hand (it stores well in the fridge) and sweeten wine by the glass if you decide a portion isn't sweet enough.

You have a plethora of options.

 

[Billdean]

Thanks 81….I just backsweeten 6 gallons of skeeter pee with 4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water 2/1. It came out so much better than my first batch. The first batch was good but this batch is so much better. It stayed in that carboy for 6 months while I was in Arizona. Have to bottle it soon. I believe I am going to try Dave’s dragon blood for my red wine next. I just picked up some frozen berry fruits. I am trying to figure out how to stuff all that fruit into those ladies stocking!

 

[vinny]

Thanks 81….I just backsweeten 6 gallons of skeeter pee with 4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water 2/1. It came out so much better than my first batch. The first batch was good but this batch is so much better. It stayed in that carboy for 6 months while I was in Arizona. Have to bottle it soon. I believe I am going to try Dave’s dragon blood for my red wine next. I just picked up some frozen berry fruits. I am trying to figure out how to stuff all that fruit into those ladies stocking!

The beauty of frozen berries!

The cells are all burst open from freezing. Let the berries thaw on the counter. In a strainer in a bowl if you prefer to separate. With the the bulk of the liquid removed you will have 1/3 to a 1/4 of the bulk of the frozen package.