I am going to attempt my first peach wine from fresh peaches. I have read that leaving the skin on enhances color and taste. Several of my peaches have brown spots. See attached photo. Can I leave these skins on?
Would you peel this peach?
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Ohio Bob
Senior Member
I have heard that the skins have a lot of tannin in them. To me that’s a plus, will help with oxidation issues during fermentation. If it’s too tannic, that can be dealt with later. I would give those peaches a good rinse and add Kmeta at thawing to kill any stray bacteria. The brown spots don’t concern me, but that’s just me.
Edit: I would further add that you should let the peaches fully ripen before freezing.
Edit: I would further add that you should let the peaches fully ripen before freezing.
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Thanks, these peaches need a few more days to ripen. They are close but the limb broke off from the weight. I'm going to pick them now and let them finish ripening off the tree. Thanks!
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nope
Dawg
Dawg
Yes, leaving skins on (fermenting with skins) does affect the taste. The term "enhances" is a matter of opinion.
As an example, peal a ripe peach then slice it into wedges. Have a bite of the pulp and take note of the flavors. Now, take a good portion of the skins and do the same. The flavor of the skins will be in the finished wine. The amount of the "skin flavor" will depend on how long the skins are in contact with the fermentation process. Yes, the skins contain tannins, but tannin really does not have flavor. Tannin can be added to suit.
The back story is I've been perfecting my peach wine for about 5 years now (multiple batches each year), and of course tailoring it to our liking.
The best wine comes from the best fruit. IMO, that's a "no" keeping the brown spots. Would you eat a chunk of peach with the brown spots?
Ohio Bob brought up a good point earlier about oxidation during fermenting. It's extremely hard to keep fruit like peaches and pears from oxidizing and turning brown. When I process the fruit for freezing, I crush a campden tablet in a large bowl and add about a gallon of water. When slicing the fruit, it's immediately dropped in the campden/water. When enough fruit is sliced to fill a vacuum sealer bag, the fruit is drained, transferred and vacuum sealed, and put in the freezer. A similar process is used when juicing. I start with about 1/2 crushed campden tablet in a gallon of water in the >primary fermenter<. One bag at a time is opened and squeezed for juice...the juice immediately is dropped into the campden water.
Once the fruit has been juiced, I'll add 1/2 of a campden tablet/gallon of must before dropping in the bags of pulp, let sit for 24 hours, then pitch the yeast.
The point of all this is to minimize the fruit and juice from oxidizing/turning brown as much as possible.
Yes, the pulp oxidizes a bit, but the color of the finished wine is preserved, as well as, preserving the "fresh peach" flavor.
This process works for me, and of course, YMMV.
As an example, peal a ripe peach then slice it into wedges. Have a bite of the pulp and take note of the flavors. Now, take a good portion of the skins and do the same. The flavor of the skins will be in the finished wine. The amount of the "skin flavor" will depend on how long the skins are in contact with the fermentation process. Yes, the skins contain tannins, but tannin really does not have flavor. Tannin can be added to suit.
The back story is I've been perfecting my peach wine for about 5 years now (multiple batches each year), and of course tailoring it to our liking.
The best wine comes from the best fruit. IMO, that's a "no" keeping the brown spots. Would you eat a chunk of peach with the brown spots?
Ohio Bob brought up a good point earlier about oxidation during fermenting. It's extremely hard to keep fruit like peaches and pears from oxidizing and turning brown. When I process the fruit for freezing, I crush a campden tablet in a large bowl and add about a gallon of water. When slicing the fruit, it's immediately dropped in the campden/water. When enough fruit is sliced to fill a vacuum sealer bag, the fruit is drained, transferred and vacuum sealed, and put in the freezer. A similar process is used when juicing. I start with about 1/2 crushed campden tablet in a gallon of water in the >primary fermenter<. One bag at a time is opened and squeezed for juice...the juice immediately is dropped into the campden water.
Once the fruit has been juiced, I'll add 1/2 of a campden tablet/gallon of must before dropping in the bags of pulp, let sit for 24 hours, then pitch the yeast.
The point of all this is to minimize the fruit and juice from oxidizing/turning brown as much as possible.
Yes, the pulp oxidizes a bit, but the color of the finished wine is preserved, as well as, preserving the "fresh peach" flavor.
This process works for me, and of course, YMMV.
