Upstate NY newbie...

[BrianUpstateNY]

Greetings, I am glad to find a viable resource for wine making. My name is Brian and I live right in the middle of Albany and Utica NY. The Mohawk valley. We have a bumper crop of pears this year so I decided to make wine from them. I still have 18 pounds frozen to create another batch if I am successful. Cheers and well met...

 

[Julie]

Hi Brian

Welcome to winemakingtalk

 

[Runningwolf]

Brian welcome to WMT.

 

[Arne]

Howdy Brian,
Welcome to the forum. You are lucky, pears make a wonderful wine. It takes some time to come around, but becomes really good. Arne.

 

[Rocky]

"You are lucky, pears make a wonderful wine."

Hi Brian. Welcome to the forum. Pears also make a great Kruskovac (so I am told ) but that would require the dreaded "d" word.

 

[Elmer]

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!
Nice to have another Upstater around here!

 

[BrianUpstateNY]

Thanks everyone. I transferred the must to the carboy last Sunday. Still bubbling away. So far so good. We have friends asking about the "D" word, but I am not sure. I would be interested in trying it just to fortify the wine, aka Pear Brandy...but since this is my first time; I think I will just be happy with getting a nice batch of wine...cheers

 

[Julie]

Rocky is talking about distilling. We cannot discuss distilling on the site, that is why Rocky called it the dreaded "d" word.

Also, your pear wine may not be as good as you expect but give it time. The flavor of a pear wine doesn't come into it's own until the wine is at least a year old.

 

[BrianUpstateNY]

Rocky is talking about distilling. We cannot discuss distilling on the site, that is why Rocky called it the dreaded "d" word.

Yep, I knew what the "D" word was...

 

[Rocky]

Brian, if you like white wine and want to make a batch, why not pick up a good kit of say Chardonnay and add some of the pears to it in primary? Pears give some whites a nice, fresh background taste level.

 

[BrianUpstateNY]

Thanks Rocky, that sounds like a neat idea. I am very intrigued about what I can make from nature. I have many fruits that grow wild in my area from strawberries, blueberries, black-caps and raspberries, currents, quince fruit, etc. I sometimes feel like using a kit would be cheating in a way, like buying a paint by numbers; it puts limitations on my scientific freedom...LOL...My life partner and I are mostly fond of reds. I know growing grapes suitable are not easy but we love to experiment...cheers.

 

[Elmer]

"strawberries, blueberries, black-caps and raspberries..."

Sounds like a good start for some Dragon Blood!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome! I was just at a wedding this past weekend in your area, and the region and the weather were just gorgeous. I did get to sample a local Cab. Sauv. (from Brotherhood Winery) in the airport on the way out. It was quite nice. Too bad I didn't notice that there was a Cab. Franc from another winery (can't recall) there; I love Cab. Franc and am under the impression it does better in that region than Cab. Sauv. does.