Need Help with Maple Wine

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Good Morning All - I apologize for not having all of the info that you guys may want with me but I'll submit what I remember.

I made 1 gallon of maple wine using 1 qt of real maple syrup. Starting SG was 1.082 and for the last few weeks it has been at 0.988. I racked off of the primary into a gallon jug with airlock a few weeks ago and racked into a new jug yesterday.

Question I have is concerning the taste. I believe the stuff is pushing 13% alcohol and it almost smells like rubbing alcohol. I can't quite put my finger on the flavor but I'm pretty sure it reminds me of something I did shots of back in college, not the good shots either. There is a hint of the maple at the end but not much. Has anyone ever made maple wine and what would be good to back sweeten/flavor with? Would adding more maple syrup after sorbating get a decent flavor? I'm thinking the alcohol flavor/smell is so strong that I may need something fairly overwhelming to mask it. Maybe it is just too young yet and just need to sit??

Thanks!

 

[JohnT]

Here is what I can suggest. I would add sorbate to your wine before I add anything with sugar...

1) Raisons
2) apple juice or cider
3) apple pie spices (cin, nutmeg, etc)

 

[Deezil]

It's so young.. I would let it sit, and address it in a few years; then maybe hit it with some of John's suggestions once the alcohol has settled and you can better grasp the flavor profile

 

[BernardSmith]

I have not made wine from maple syrup but when you dilute maple syrup (even 1 to 3 ) would that not result in more of the resin flavor coming to the front. Might the flavor you detect not be resin?

 

[Runningwolf]

I made this years ago. I added a bit to my apple wine and dumped the rest. Most expensive wine making mistake I ever made. It was a six gallon batch. It tasted like tree sap to me but it did enhance the apple flavor. The aroma I found was unpleasant.

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just let it go for a few months and see what I can do with it at that point. Hopefully, it mellows out some and I can get something good out of it. Glad its just a gallon!

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Update on this wine, it's terrible!

Popped the top on one bottle just to see how it was coming along after 4 months and it was still the same. High alcohol smell and flavor. I need to get some smaller bottles for when I try new things. I've got three bottles of it left and it'll be at least a year before I pop another one.

Should be able to get rid of this bottle with the old college roommates coming into town!