Cranberry Wine From Frozen Concentrate?
Dec 13th, 2007 by Erroll
I noticed some cranberry juice concentrate on sale the other day, and since I’m thinking about making cranberry wine I bought some. Can you make wine from cranberry juice concentrate? Yes, but “cranberry wine” might not be the best way to describe it. Most cranberry juice products are cocktails that contain cranberry juice. This frozen concentrate, for example, has more apple juice than cranberry juice.
What, you thought the “Cranberry” and “100% Juice” on the label meant that it was 100% cranberry juice? Silly you. The first ingredient is apple juice concentrate, followed by water, then cranberry juice concentrate. We’re not quite done. Next comes grape juice concentrate, black currant juice concentrate, and aronia berry juice concentrate. Aronia? It’s deciduous shrub, sometimes called black chokeberry that’s popular in Siberia. Really! Anyway, there’s still a few things in this “cranberry juice:” natural flavors, citric acid, and ascorbic acid.
I don’t want to knock this product. A blend of juices like that sounds promising, and might make a nice wine. In fact, I will make wine from it. Any ideas on what I should call the wine? “Apple Cranberry Grape Black-Currant Aroia wine” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue …
Hi Erroll,
If the juice is “100% juice, cranberry” maybe the wine should be “100% wine, cranberry”? Seriously though, you’ve probably already seen it the Trader Joe’s here has pure cranberry juice for about $4 a quart, the best price I’ve seen recently. Can’t wait to here how it turns out.
Aaron
I like it Aaron,
Makes me want to pay with “100% money, dollars!”
The juice aisle in Trader Joe’s, with all that unfermented wine, is a dangerous place for me. The apple juice is a real bargain. A gallon, in a glass jug, sells for less than an empty gallon jug in the homebrew shop. But yeah, I should check out their cranberry juice.
Erroll