Vintner's Harvest Fruit Purée - First Timer

[Mschooley53]

I am looking to get into wine making and I would like to start out small and then as I get more comfortable/knowledgeable move onto more "elaborate wines."

I picked up all the necessary equipment but one thing that caught my eye was Vintner's Harvest puree and wine base. First, could someone tell me what the differences are between the two?

Next, I have done a fair amount of snooping on the site and found a lot of good experiences using the black currant flavoring. So would anyone be able to give me some starting tips on what to do? I would like to start out with 3 gallons of wine... thanks!

 

[Johnd]

I am looking to get into wine making and I would like to start out small and then as I get more comfortable/knowledgeable move onto more "elaborate wines."

I picked up all the necessary equipment but one thing that caught my eye was Vintner's Harvest puree and wine base. First, could someone tell me what the differences are between the two?

Next, I have done a fair amount of snooping on the site and found a lot of good experiences using the black currant flavoring. So would anyone be able to give me some starting tips on what to do? I would like to start out with 3 gallons of wine... thanks!

My suggestion would be to start with a nice midline kit that comes with all of the necessary ingredients, just to get used to the process, and have a pretty decent set of instructions to follow through the entire process. Just my two cents.

 

[brewbush]

My suggestion would be to start with a nice midline kit that comes with all of the necessary ingredients, just to get used to the process, and have a pretty decent set of instructions to follow through the entire process. Just my two cents.

I agree

With a kit you would learn about fermentation, taking gravity readings, when to transfer, when and how to minimize oxygen exposure, how/when/why to use sorbate and metabisulfite. Plus the kit gives you the chemicals you need for stabilizing, sulfiting, and clearing.

A kit gives nice instructions with an end product that is tested to come out very nice/drinkable.

The fruit bases also have instructions for them. The puree is just that, crushed/pureed fruit. The fruit bases are the fruits packed in their own juices.

With these you would have to buy all the chems you need, although there really are not that many. But if its not for you, then you have some leftovers.

Good luck whichever you choose!

 

[Johnd]

Not to mention that you don't need to worry about adjusting BRIX, pH and TA on a kit, it's already done for you. Plus there's the equipments you need to measure pH/TA.

 

[Scooter68]

Remember that kits while pre-set for use - you need to stick pretty much with their instructions unless you have experience with wine making. I started out with just my own fruit, Blueberries and Blackberries and was very happy with the results. Just remember the most important parts of the entire process are :
1) PATIENCE
2) Document everything you do and what you see, taste, smell. That way you are better able to repeat successful batches and avoid repeating any mistakes.

The Vintners harvest Wine Bases no longer have the fruit in them - they are just pure juice concentrate - That is what I found in both the Apricot and Black Current wine bases.

I was very happy with the Black Currant I ended up with 16.7% ABV and Sweetened/left it at an SG of 1.005 which gave me a nice potent dessert wine.
The Apricot is going to take a lot of aging to be good - at 11 months it still has a lot of bite to it. Flavor is light. OH MOST IMPORTANT - Be sure to use the full-bodied recipe amounts or use 2 cans for a 5 gallon batch.