niagara wine anyone?

If you have been working on a batch of Niagara since March and it taste horrible now - well - it does not look good. I have made Niagara from Welch's frozen juice and it was very drinkable as soon as fermentation finished.

Mohar, I would recommend you add some sugar syrup before you declare it a disaster. I only had a few batches of finished Niagara that was dry and they do taste a bit different. One was oaked and really was different. I make Niagara nearly every year and it is one of the easier varieties to deal with for me. As a rule I finish all of my wines dry and then sweeten them back after completion to the desired sweetness. You need to get used to inspecting,smelling and tasting your wines at various stages in order to learn what it should be like. This is the best method I know of to catch a problem such as bacterial infection or Hydrogen Sulphide problems before they are terminal. Niagara can taste especially odd if the acid content is high, and you are trying it dry. HTH John Dixon

This wine was not a kit...it was from juice from a vineyard...it is about the same price as the welchs i suppose, less then $5 a gallon. it certainly isnt the "big bucks" As far as kits go, I DO think they are a great thing and very foolproof for people who arent really sure about what they are doing. nothing wrong with getting a kit. I have had tons of compliments on my kit wines, and honestly those are the only ones so far that havent left sediment in them! as for my niagara, i definetly have to sweeten this stuff, also maybe a little peach flavoring in it (at the vineyards suggestion) it is worth a try...i am not giving up on it yet :)

I have never experienced this. In fact, from my experience, dry Niagara can taste very nearly like an unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc; and yes, the Niagara I have made has been made intentionally sorta high in acid.

I would be willing to bet that I could serve a slightly acidic Niagara along with a Chardonnay and or Sauvignon Blanc in a blind taste test and a lot of people would prefer the Niagara. - BTW - I have done this. And, to add insult to injury - the Niagra was made from Welch's frozen concentrate.

I can't believe people are spending big bucks on white grape concentrates when they can make a very good white wine for about 75 cents a bottle from frozen concentrate that they can buy at the grocery store.

As a side note; I make most of my wines (dry reds) from fresh grapes that I grow or buy. I am not a "kit" wine maker.

Can you describe the taste with some more detail? Too acidic? 'Hot' from the alcohol content?

Sounds like you are describing the labrusca "foxy" taste associated with Concord and Niagara wines. Some people love it some hate it. If you drink enough of it you will get used to it once you forget what real wine tastes like. Have you considered giving it away or making vinegar?

i would describe it as "bitter"

That taste reminds me of the smell of fuel oil. Is that it?

Ah, that may be it. People's perception of what wine "should" taste like is base on previous experience and tradition. I have some friends who can not stand ANY dry wine. For them, I sweeten and sometimes fortify.

I have never tried to make a Niagara from kits or fresh grapes. All I can say is that you can make a very good dry white wine from Welch's frozen concentrate. The only problem I have with it is that it finishes with a slightly sweet after taste even though it is bone dry. I would think that sweetening such a wine would satisfy your friends who like a sweet Niagara.

I am in the process of experimenting with using Niagara from Welch's as a base and adding things like frozen strawberries. I made a very good dry Niagara by using the frozen concentrate and fresh pears. The pear taste did not come through but I think it gave it a more vinuous taste.

I am trying to develop a low cost white wine for summer drinking and for cooking. My definition of a "Cooking Wine" is - wine you drink while cooking OR add it to what you are cooking - or BOTH.

Happy wine making

Hi: Widmers (New York State) sells an inexpensive Niagara ("Lake Niagara) which is delicious. I have made it in the past from Niagara grapes and found that it had to be made on the sweet side.

Why did you "Have" to make it on the sweet side. Was this just a preference you have for sweet wine? I have never made Niagara from fresh grapes but the dry Niagara I have made from frozen Welch's juice turned out excellent. Of course, I balanced the acidity and sugar before fermentation. One of these days I will have to try to make it from fresh grapes. Perhaps the juice from fresh grapes needs a balancing act before fermentation also.

What yeast did you use Paul?

I wasn't joking about about the fuel oil, or kerosene smell that you can get with Niagara grapes. I was told that it is reduced by quickly pressing the grapes. Anyone else heard of this? Ken

Lalvin D-47

I've seen that too. I made mine semi dry, but I really bumped the acid down, probably close to 7g/l.

Joe

Hi folks,

We grown many varieties of grapes on the Niagara Peninsula. If you buy a varietals grape or grape juice you will get that wine.

You could produce a Riesling, Chardonnay, Vidal, Sauvignon Blanc, or pick a red: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot. What I am getting at is that the acreage devoted to the concord grape and the "niagara grape" a cross between the Concord and Cassidy developed in 1868 has diminished and is being reduced each year.

If you do not like wine from concord or "niagara" grapes than do not make it! There are a lot of other Niagara grown grapes and wines to choose from.

I personally do not like wine from concord or "niagara" grapes, but most of the wine I drink originates from the Niagara Peninsula. Why make Yuk if you do not have too? We had to for too long. Now we do not have to, we do not want to. You should not feel you have to either.

Bob Patrick, Ontario

I've made niagara wines from both welch's concentrate and from grapes. I thought that the taste of the welch's was much more successful than from the grapes. My wine I made from Grapes tasted very flat.... Now, I don't have a wine press, but extracted juice using a victorio strainer.... So I may ahve gotten some skin sediment with it, but didn't let it ferment too long before I racked it....

Next time I'll stick with the concentrate.... people really seemed to like that.

Rick Vanderwal Fremont, MI

Rick, just to prove what a great guy I am, I am willing to sample any wines you are unsure of. I offer this service out of the goodness of my heart to all US home winemakers. Just wrap a tightly corked, 1.5 litre bottle in a padded box and mail it to: Bob 27954-0021

You're welcome! :-) Bob