The Definitive* Jaboticaba Wine Thread

[Scooter68]

Yeah, It might not have the eye appeal of a rose or a big red - BUT how does it taste. Personally as long as it's not actually oxidized - I don't care. That's just me - I make my wine for my wife and for me.


Part of getting older I guess - I stopped worrying so much about pleasing everyone else. Some folks find my TART Cherry to bold too Tart - But if it pleases me and my wife - I'm happy.
Not say I don't care about the looks but some fruit is really tough to keep from darkening up. Apples - I don't care if I slice it and drop it immediately into my slow Omega Juicer - It comes out with that golden color on the other end that looks a lot like an oxidized apple slice and I'm not going to add chemical like "Fruit Fresh" to the apples to keep them from browning up. The wine comes out golden colored so That's fine.

I noticed just a hair of a brownish tint to the original berries - Me - I'd roll with it.

Somebody says - "Hmmm, looks like it oxidized on ya."

Don't offer it to them.

And that's all I have to say about that. (FG)

PS - I think I see a rosy color in there after the wine clears well.

 

[Johnd]

Update:
The jaboticaba wine even before it finished fermenting took on a disappointing brick-brown color. The picture below is the color at 1.010 when I racked to carboy. It looks oxidized, which is weird, because I treated with sulfite prior to pitching the yeast. Smells a lot like cherries. Volume-wise a little short of a gallon.

It sounds to me like you’ve done a proper job in controlling oxygen exposure, don’t despair, it’s probably just be the color that your fruit has to offer....

 

[Stressbaby]

It sounds to me like you’ve done a proper job in controlling oxygen exposure, don’t despair, it’s probably just be the color that your fruit has to offer....

I hope so. We'll see.

 

[New Zealand Brewer]

I made some Jaboticaba wine about a year and a half ago and just finally popped it a few nights ago. I jumped online to see if any new discussion had been published since back when I made this, and found this thread. I thought I’d share my experience for anyone interested.

I got my fruit at a farmers market in New Zealand. A family was selling fruit they had grown themselves and near the end of the day I bought most of what they had left (a big box) for just $20. All I found were a few videos that were not in English but I did not see anyone adding water, so I did not either.

I just followed the same process I use when making grape wine.

I mashed gently with a potato masher, and added to a bag-lined bucket. Added potassium metabisulphite, let set for 12 hours, added pectic enzyme, waited another 12. Then pitched.

The sugar level was quite low. I don’t have my notes handy but it was around 1.055 if I recall. I was going for a big red so I added enough to bring it up to around 1.100. A lot, I know.

I fermented with RC212 at around 26 C, if I remember right, used goferm and Fermaid O.

It fermented fairly quickly and around day 5 it was down to around 1.010 and I pressed it (it was on skins and seeds until that point).

Racked it after a few months and got too busy to deal with it for about a year and a half. A few days ago I racked it onto some French oak. I had a spare 1.5 litres that I racked into a growler with oak and have been sampling it each night for the last few nights, trying to decide how I want to handle the remainder.

So, the tasting notes...

I’m pleasantly surprised with this.

It has a somewhat herbal, and fruity nose, but the flavor has a lot of blackberry, plum, and grape. Because the fruit itself is not overly sweet, the taste of the wine is very similar to the fruit itself. It doesn’t go through as big of a transformation as a grape wine does. At least to me.

it is very reminiscent of red grape wine, however the herbal nose and the rather intense citric acid of the fruit sets it apart. While, it’s not as complex as a grape wine, I find it pretty impressive for a fruit wine.

its biggest negative is the citric acid punch. With no water added it is too intense. Still very drinkable, but fatiguing after a glass. But if I add water, the dilution does take away from its complexity.

It’s extremely dry, which coupled with the acid is too much.

I’ve been playing with sugar and water additions and I think I will likely back sweeten with about 1/4 tsp of sugar per 100mls of wine. It does not make it taste sweet at all, it just fills out the flavour nicely and cuts the acidity a bit. I think I may also dilute with water by about 10% to cut the acid further.

I don’t have enough to age long, but a few more years would probably help mellow the acid as well.

I don’t find it to be overly tannic like many posts say. Very similar to a grape wine in that regard.

My wine is not brown like the post above mentioned. The colour is indistinguishable from a grape wine.

But all in all, I’m impressed with this. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to drinks, and I'm quick to dump my creations down the sink if I don’t like them. But I’m genuinely enjoying this and will make again if I can get more fruit.

Here are a few pics...







Hope that is of interest and helps add to the thread, as there is so little out there on Jaboticaba wine.

 

[Rice_Guy]

@New Zealand Brewer , Great write up

 

[Stressbaby]

Agree, great post @New Zealand Brewer
I agree, my brown-brick color is not legit. It may be due to the age of the fruit. I live in a temperate climate and grow containerized jabos, so I have had to save and freeze mine over, literally, years. Might be just old, frozen fruit that did it.

 

[New Zealand Brewer]

Thanks guys! That makes sense. As far as I know, oxidation does take place when freezing, so I'm sure that's it. Hopefully, it doesn't impact flavour. Looks like there is even some difference between our fruit, due to the broken cell walls in your frozen fruit. There is much more white in mine.

I know you have a long aging time ahead, but how is yours tasting?

 

[Stressbaby]

Thanks guys! That makes sense. As far as I know, oxidation does take place when freezing, so I'm sure that's it. Hopefully, it doesn't impact flavour. Looks like there is even some difference between our fruit, due to the broken cell walls in your frozen fruit. There is much more white in mine.

I know you have a long aging time ahead, but how is yours tasting?

Very reminiscent of cherries. Not so out of balance that I'm thinking of backsweetening. Different fruit I imagine.

 

[New Zealand Brewer]

Cool. Makes sense. In the sample I diluted by 10% (which is how I'm currently drinking it, to combat the acidity) I do get more cherry. I'm impressed with how similar it is to red wine. Were it not for the presence of the citric acid (as apposed to tartaric), I think it might fool quite a few people.