Seeking Country Winemaker's suggestions with adding rhubarb flavors to other wines

[Khristyjeff]

I'm looking for your thoughts on using rhubarb (an F-Pac) in other wine kits. I have a Zinfandel Blush kit that I've added raspberry F-Pacs to in the past with success (also read that Pinot Noir's can have notes of rhubarb and might be a good match), but wondered about rhubarb. Are there different characteristics to rhubarb compared to raspberries that I should be aware of and any of your ideas? I've searched this website and made detailed notes but didn't find anything that quite covered this. I do know the flavor is much more subtle than many other fruits . It's also very sour, so not quite sure how to handle that other than back-sweeten. Again, I'm not making a rhubarb wine here but using rhubarb as a flavor enhancement. I really appreciate your thoughts.

 

[RussMiner]

Rhubarb goes very well with strawberries

 

[BernardSmith]

Not so much an answer to your question but an approach to one. Why not make a batch of rhubarb wine. It can be delicious so that's not ever a loss, and then blend some of that wine with the grape wine you are thinking of making. If I were you I would bench test using very small quantities and you could try any ratios you can think of but 1: 20 through 1:1 and 20: I might be possibilities. Me? I think when wine mavens talk about flavor profiles they are not (always) referring to objective compounds in the wines: leather, pepper, and cherry notes in a red wine are not necessarily recommendations to add shoe uppers, black pepper or tart cherries to a Pinot Noir BUT if you like the blend of rhubarb with Zin then more power to you.

 

[Khristyjeff]

Not so much an answer to your question but an approach to one. Why not make a batch of rhubarb wine. It can be delicious so that's not ever a loss, and then blend some of that wine with the grape wine you are thinking of making. If I were you I would bench test using very small quantities and you could try any ratios you can think of but 1: 20 through 1:1 and 20: I might be possibilities. Me? I think when wine mavens talk about flavor profiles they are not (always) referring to objective compounds in the wines: leather, pepper, and cherry notes in a red wine are not necessarily recommendations to add shoe uppers, black pepper or tart cherries to a Pinot Noir BUT if you like the blend of rhubarb with Zin then more power to you.

That's a good point @BernardSmith. I do plan to try a batch of rhubarb from our patch this year anyway. Not sure how much we'll get. We do have 2 frozen bags saved in the freezer that I thought I could use up with an F-Pac. Hmm. Lots to consider. Thanks for responding.

 

[JustJoe]

For the sourness of the rhubarb, I use Lalvin 71B yeast. It consumes a portion of the malic acid in the rhubarb and substantially mellows the resulting wine.

 

[Khristyjeff]

For the sourness of the rhubarb, I use Lalvin 71B yeast. It consumes a portion of the malic acid in the rhubarb and substantially mellows the resulting wine.

Good to know. You obviously have not had some of the problems altering from using the old standby EC1118 that some other winemakers on this forum have encountered. Thanks for the info.

 

[BernardSmith]

The "standby" EC 1118 is a sorta kinda hammer that treats everything as a nail.

 

[Khristyjeff]

The "standby" EC 1118 is a sorta kinda hammer that treats everything as a nail.

I get your point. Thanks.

 

[glennwing]

I make a rhubarb wine using 10lbs of rhubarb and a gallon of white grape juice that is well received. I cut the rhubarb up and freeze it first to help break it down. I bag the rhubarb and add sugar to get to the abv I want. I leave the rhubarb in during primary fermentation. I have also included 2 lbs of strawberries to the bag. Didn’t add much taste but the color was nice.
I also add 5 lbs of rhubarb to the apple juice I press and make wine or sparkling cider

 

[Khristyjeff]

I make a rhubarb wine using 10lbs of rhubarb and a gallon of white grape juice that is well received. I cut the rhubarb up and freeze it first to help break it down. I bag the rhubarb and add sugar to get to the abv I want. I leave the rhubarb in during primary fermentation. I have also included 2 lbs of strawberries to the bag. Didn’t add much taste but the color was nice.
I also add 5 lbs of rhubarb to the apple juice I press and make wine or sparkling cider

Sounds tasty!