I always thought that cherry wine needed a little something extra, and I like your idea about blending it with raspberry and rhubarb wine.

Erroll

I’m glad the taste test went well. You mentioned a surface film, and that concerns me. It’s best to physically remove it from you wine, either by carefully racking or by floating it out, then treat with sulfite.

You asked what it should taste like. I used to get frustrated when people told me that something tasted “gamey,” until I ate venison. Now I think I know, but describing it in words? I don’t think I can, not without using the word gamey or referring to venison. It’s the same with oxidized wine. I’ve tasted it, I think I know it pretty well, but without saying things like, “you know, a little like sherry” I don’t know how to describe it.

I’m having the same problem with a kit wine I’ve been making. Everything went without a hitch, but there’s something off about it. After writing down all the tastes and smells that came to mind, the Lady of the House and I did Google searches on those words plus things like “infection” or “wine fault.” Sadly, I may have my first case of Brett. It’s often described as having a “barnyard” odor. Barnyard, huh? I grew up in the city and I don’t know what barns or barnyards smell like

Anyway, you’re not the first to let an airlock run dry – I’ve done it myself. When things don’t work out, learn from them. When they do, open a bottle and celebrate!

Erroll

First, get it under an airlock right away. Taste it to see if it has become oxidized (depends on how long, if it was still fermenting, if it was protected with sulfite). Good luck!

Erroll

Do you think I can get good fermentation without the pulp (using just rehydrated Lalvin 71B). I can also retrieve the pulp from the sheets and store it in a cheese cloth to add to the must to enhance fermentation. What do you suggest? Also, since I grow cherries and apples for a living, is there any reason to add water to my must?

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Hi Steve,
I think you can get good fermentation with just the juice, and I’m really jealous of your press!

The decision to ferment on the pulp comes down to what style of wine you want to make. Do you want to make something like a white or rose? In the end, I didn’t make one but here are my thoughts on making white cherry wine. If you go this rout, use juice only and ferment cool. More like a red wine? Ferment with the pulp (but not too long – 3 days, maybe). A little less acid than a white/rose.

You might want to add water if the juice is too acidic, because reducing acidity in cherry wine is tricky. Or you could deal with high acid by sweetening.

Erroll

I wrote about cranberries in my “Know Your Ingredients” series: Know Your Ingredients: Cranberries. They’re high in acid and low in sugar, so it’s best to dilute cranberries when making wine (to deal with the high acid) and add sugar. Now, if you want to combine the cranberries with your cans of cherry juice, you’ll need to take into account the sugar and acid of the cherry juice as well. I would juice the cranberries, add the cherry juice, then measure the volume of the combined juice, it’s specific gravity (SG) and titratable acidity (TA). Plug those numbers, and your targets for SG and TA (if you don’t know what you want to target, try 1.090 and 6 g/L) in the Wine Recipe Wizard. It will suggest water and sugar syrup additions to make a balanced must.

Hope this helps!
Erroll