Vinter's Best Wine Bases?

[pandakatelyn]

Hello! Very very new winemaker here. I'm exploring different avenues, and I stumbled across the Vinter's Best Wine Base and was curious if anyone has had success with it.
I really want to make a rhubarb wine for spring, and this *seems* like a good idea. I wanted to get some opions.
How do I even use this?! I typically make 5-6 gallon batches at a time. Would something like this completely replace using frozen or fresh fruit?
Help a newbie out here!

 

[Scooter68]

There are not a lot of wine base suppliers out there. Vintner's Best is well known but you need to be aware that their product is a blend of juices.
For instance their Blackberry wine contains the following ingredients (In order of highest content to least.): Fermentable Corn Syrup, Apple Juice, Pear Juice Blackberry & Grape Juice Concentrates, Water, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors.

So while it will no doubt make a good wine, it will be a blended juice wine rather than 100% Blackberry. There are a few others like that out there.
Columna and Vintner's Harvest provide 100% juices -The name of the juice variety on the label is the only juice in there and I don't believer either of them add any sugar.

You might browse a few of the threads on the Country Fruit Wine making part of this forum for more discussions about juice Suppliers (Good Bad and meh)

 

[garymc]

In addition to what Scooter said, I have added fruit (elderberries) to Vintners Harvest Elderberry concentrate. This is a pure elderberry product. The instructions say it will make a 3 or 5 gallon batch. I went for 5 gallons with the addition of a few pounds of elderberries. So, yes, you can add actual fruit to one of these concentrates or wine bases or whatever. In my case, I wanted a bigger batch of the real thing. If I was using the Vintner's Best blended stuff, I'd add the real fruit in order to get closer to the real thing.

 

[Scooter68]

Had to post and run earlier but here's a link to a discussion I started about another supplier that actually appears to have changed their product content. Seller has been cited by their state for failure to properly label their products. BUT the reason I'm posting this is because there are other suppliers listed too. If you can take time to look through the posts you will learn some of the challenges in finding a good source for wine bases.
Vintner's Harvest and Vintner's Best are different products that are quite different and some folks find good and bad about each of them.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/thre...y-flavored-concentrate-i-dont-think-so.72564/
Since you mentioned Rhubarb you might also look for some receipes and discussion on the Country Fruit wine threads and in the Recipes thread - I've seen some discussion of that fruit but don't remember or have any experience with it myself.

 

[hounddawg]

Yes, as long as you use good single fruit concentrates,,, check out www.colomafrozen.com
and always go heavy on your fruits and berries, i even go stronger on concentrates as well.
welcome to WMT
Dawg

 

[Vinobeau]

1st, Not everyone likes that same thing. 2nd, try the Vintners Best, as it is, and see if YOU like it. I personally don't like the heavily fruited wines. I have used the VB Cranberry and it turned out just fine. I have been making Cranberry wine since the early 70's, and have made it with fresh/frozen berries, canned berries, canned Cranberry sauce, and the concentrates. To me, all of them taste very good. The final taste is a lot dependent on the back sweetening. The canned Cranberries are better than the canned sauce - much better color and the sauce is hard to get an early SG reading. As far as the VB being a blend of concentrates, I have not found it to be a detriment. I currently have a VB Raspberry going. Are you trying to replicate a real wine with some fruit flavor or do you want a fruit juice with alcohol? BTW, with Rhubarb, IMO I don't want a lot of Rhubarb flavor, as it gets overpowering real quick. That is why I don't ferment on the pulp.

 

[hounddawg]

1st, Not everyone likes that same thing. 2nd, try the Vintners Best, as it is, and see if YOU like it. I personally don't like the heavily fruited wines. I have used the VB Cranberry and it turned out just fine. I have been making Cranberry wine since the early 70's, and have made it with fresh/frozen berries, canned berries, canned Cranberry sauce, and the concentrates. To me, all of them taste very good. The final taste is a lot dependent on the back sweetening. The canned Cranberries are better than the canned sauce - much better color and the sauce is hard to get an early SG reading. As far as the VB being a blend of concentrates, I have not found it to be a detriment. I currently have a VB Raspberry going. Are you trying to replicate a real wine with some fruit flavor or do you want a fruit juice with alcohol? BTW, with Rhubarb, IMO I don't want a lot of Rhubarb flavor, as it gets overpowering real quick. That is why I don't ferment on the pulp.

aw you mean you never learned to ferment good wine,!!!!, I've never made a wine that i did not ferment on the pulp,,, when learned to craft correctly a good country wine taste like the fruit or berry you plucked from the tree,,, bush,,, briar,, patch,,, so close, that after every sip you must pull the branches and leaves from your teeth,,, and why replicate another's wine!!!!, why not learn to be your own master vintner, but of course we each and every one of us only half to please one's self, cough or ones better half,,,, IMHO,,,,
Dawg