Cherry Port wine -- is this recipe about right?

Dave, I never made a port but did do some sherry; I used everclear too. The brandy I keep around is EJ VSOP (Gallo). It's cheap and I think it tastes fine.

Keep in the back of your mind when a winemaking text tells you they add 'brandy' it's usually closer to everclear than brandy from a store. They distill marc or junk wines to make a concentrated alcohol which probably tastes closer to moonshine or real grappa than brandy. They don't age it in oak; it's just used to fortify the wine. Sounds like it was a nice experiment.

I get to Spartanburg SC once in a while if you are close to there.

Joe

Just a note of caution on bottling this early. I've done several port- style wines from fruit (raspberry, elderberry, blueberry, mixed berry) and in my experience, it takes at least 2 years for the wines to stop throwing sediment. Raspberry seems particularly bad this way - I bottled some batches that looked crystaL clear after 1 year but ended up cloudy in the bottle with a very fine sediment. So these days I look at 2 years aging minimum - this has the advantage of letting the alcohol and sugar meld together and do any finetuning on those if needed - the balance can change significantly from the early stages.

Pp

OMG - bulk aging for 2 years prior to bottling! thanks for the advice, I guess I could wait that long, but wow.

DAve

pp wrote:

mapquest tells me it's a four hour drive to Sparanburg, SC. But remove the x's from the above email and if you are in that area this fall, let me know. Sometimes I am in Charlotte, which is real close. Maybe a swap of a couple bottles. :*)

Thanks for the info about the brandy - it was a great taste test that my wife and I hoovered over for a while - deciding what everclear or brandy brought to the port.

If you ever do make a port, I highly recommend cherry, as it cleared so much nicer than my blueberry or elderberry.

DAve

Joe Sallustio wrote:

Pp:

What interests me is the last statement, " the balance can change significantly from the early stages".

Are there any consistent changes in flavors, nose, whatever in ports over time? Less sweet, less alcohol burn over timeor more what?

Steve Oregon

The overall impact is the flavours become more integrated and the nose will develop as for regular wines. Especially if you use high proof alcohol like Everclear, it can take a year or more before the alcohol blends with the rest of the wine. A good port will last years so it is a great wine to age and observe how it develops and figure out at which stage one likes it best.

Pp

. Especially if you use high proof

Funny you should mention that. I noticed some Limoncello I made last year is less 'sharp' now. I did not expect that. I only noticed because I just made more and was comparing them.

Joe

My Limoncellos are not sharp at all. My recipe is

- Soak the zests of 16 thick-skinned lemons in 1.75 liters of Vodka for six weeks.

- Stir 5 lbs of table sugar into 3 qts of boiling water.

- Add sugar water and another 1.75 liters of Vodka

- Wait another six weeks and bottle.

After Quality Assurance Testing, you should have about

But don't trash the zests. Add them to the secondary of homemade beer. Mead, or wine.

I've also have an Orangecello in the works.

Admittedly Everclear give you a higher ABV, but I suspect more sugar water might help.

Dick

Dick, You are right, I actually switched to vodka after trading a few posts with Bill Frazier. It does give a smoother end product. We are going to make another batch soon so we will give yours a shot.

Let us know how the Orangecello works out. I just did some limes with Everclear and water and I really don't think it's worth the effort. It tastes fine but drinking something that green seems a little weird. It looks like something Scotty would drink on Star Trek.

Joe

Only if you are a married man, can you fully appreciate someone acknowledging that you are right. ;)

You can make book on my reporting the results.

I declined to try limes even though someone else was paying for the fruit because the ones I have seen are not thick skinned, i.e., possibly too much junk comes off with the zests.

Whoa! The actor wo portrays him may or may not be a good actor, but no reason to besmearch either he or his character. Maybe it was something the character of the infamous Harry Mudd would have relished!

An update and question: The Cherry Port has remained clear. when someone says 2 years of bulk aging - do I rack it every 3-120 days or just let it sit for 2 years?

DAve p.s. h> OMG - bulk aging for 2 years prior to bottling! thanks for the advice, I

Hi Dave:

You know as much as I do, but if it's clear right now then I'd let it just sit. If there was lots of build up in 6 months or a year then I might be inclined to rack.

What's a lot? 1/4" to 3/8" of some yuck I don't know where it came from, maybe...

:-)

Take Care Steve