Mulberry Wine advice please

[Shayne Edwards]

Well in my part of the world we are just starting to climb out of the depths of a long hard winter, some days the maximum would barely hit 20 degrees C and I nearly had to go find a jumper. This all means that shortly, the Mulberry trees will be coming into fruit.

I still consider myself an absolute beginner at wine making but it was the thought of making Mulberry wine that led me down this long slippery slope.

My intention is to harvest across the season, washing and freezing the fruit as I go, then have a red hot go at doing Mulberry wine. I have been googling, you tubing etc. and information seems a little sketchy along with being contradictory. I’m hoping some of the wiser heads on here have made good Mulberry wine and are willing to share what worked for them. Thanks in advance. Shayne

 

[Shayne Edwards]

I guess first question is best treatment of fruit. Heat and strain, heat and leave fruit in, defrost and crush - strain, dont strain add Camden tablets.

Do I want straight fruit or do I add water?

At this point I’m not sure how much fruit I will be able to collect, I imagine the very most I may get is 10 kilos (22 pounds).

 

[Stressbaby]

See what Keller says about mulberry wine. IIRC, he says its thin. As such you'd probably want to use straight juice (no water).

Haven't made mulberry but I would:
Freeze the fruit
Thaw and crush w/ KMS reserving 10% of the juice for adding back later.
Wait 12-24h then pectic
Wait 12-24h then adjust sugar and acid
Pitch yeast

 

[Shayne Edwards]

Mr Keller doesn’t seem a fan of this wine hence why I asked for help. This helps me feel better about the approach I should take.
I will have no choice around freezing so that is a given. Pure juice seems the way forward. I also refuse to try and de-stem the berries will that change how I approach this?
Stress baby, the reserve of juice is this for topping after racking?

 

[Stressbaby]

No, not for topping, but for backsweetening and boosting the flavor profile. I assume this wine would need at least a little sugar, it would not be bone-dry. So you will probably be stabilizing it with sorbate. If as Keller says it gets thin, having some straight mulberry juice might be just the trick near the end to help with body, sweeten, and bring back some fruit flavor.

Some wineries we toured in SW Michigan do this with their grape wines. It was suggested to me by one of their winemakers, so I'm thinking of trying this with some of my grape wine this year.