What recipes and tips can someone offer on making chokecherry wine. I've never made wine myself but my father has done a good job on raspberry and local apple wines. I picked about 5 gals today and would like to freeze them for use later. They are excellent this year with the unusually hot summer. I haven't the time, equipment or skills to tackle it at the present myself.
Thanks in advance.
Update on the chokecherry wine.
I'm into the second batch. I divided the berries into 1/3 and 2/3. I started the first 1/3 on Sept 25th. The second 2/3 is very nearly ready to transfer into the carboy. Both are looking good. For the second I used half of red grape concentrate the recipe called for and substituted the 1/2 the alternate of raisins. I have access to a digital battery hydrometer (very expensive, about $4000 CDN) which reads to .001. The present batch started at 1.149 sg and is now at 1.024 sg so perhaps this afternoon it will each target of 1.010. I couldn't resist a taste of the liquid withdrawn by the hydrometer this morning. Expect it to be a tasty wine, better than the first go around.
I took your suggestion of the paint mixer. The first I built myself modeled after one in Walmart. It worked so so. I ended up crushing many berries by hand. I then went shopping and found one for $10 CDN that was built differently. It worked somewhat better and I just left the berries that didn't disintegrate. The berries were picked a few day late. Some were starting to get quite dry. Another person who makes fine rhubarb wine freezes the fruit twice. He claims it tends to break down better. It might be worth trying this with chokecherries. The mixer did a fine job on the raisins. What might work well a mixer along the design of an egg beater made from a hard rubber, something that would avoid breaking the pits.
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