# How do you determine wine type?



## fireman32 (Aug 21, 2018)

I make homemade wine on occasion and have no idea how to determine its type.  BlackBerry, pear and plum are my kinds, but what are they?  Pinot, Merlot, Pinot noir? Thanks for any help.


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## NCHillbilly (Aug 21, 2018)

Most types of wine are named for the variety of grape they're made from.


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## lagrangedave (Aug 21, 2018)

I would call them craft wines and describe them as sweet or dry depending on their sugar content......


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## BriarPatch99 (Aug 21, 2018)

I always wondered about the naming also...

I make Red Sweet wine ... Red because the hulls(dark/ black grapes) are fermented with the juice ... as the color comes from the hulls .... Sweet because that is my favored taste ....and sugar content ...


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## fireman32 (Aug 21, 2018)

I’ve made a few batches, BlackBerry is normally dry and my bride prefers it sweetened at bottling. The pear is a light red, but started out clear, it is sweet as is.  The pear is also her favorite.  The plum has aged one month and is promising to be sweet.  All my wines have been 11-12%. Not sure how that affects  taste either.
Did try strawberry once, it turned out horrible.

I bought a recipe book that has been a pretty big help.  Patience is the hard thing to master.


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## KyDawg (Aug 21, 2018)

I drank some homemade roastneer wine one time and it was very good, the guy that made is died years ago and I never found anymore.


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## Nicodemus (Aug 22, 2018)

BriarPatch99 said:


> I always wondered about the naming also...
> 
> I make Red Sweet wine ... Red because the hulls(dark/ black grapes) are fermented with the juice ... as the color comes from the hulls .... Sweet because that is my favored taste ....and sugar content ...




That wine you make is really fine. World class.


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## BriarPatch99 (Aug 22, 2018)

Nic ... I have missed the last two years ... My grapes have not made enough grapes ...

I did have about 500 catalpa worms the other day ...started to call you but they went down before I did ...


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## Capt Quirk (Aug 22, 2018)

The type of yeast you use has something to do with it,  as well as the fruit. So does the dryness/sweetness of the wine.


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## Cmp1 (Aug 22, 2018)

fireman32 said:


> I’ve made a few batches, BlackBerry is normally dry and my bride prefers it sweetened at bottling. The pear is a light red, but started out clear, it is sweet as is.  The pear is also her favorite.  The plum has aged one month and is promising to be sweet.  All my wines have been 11-12%. Not sure how that affects  taste either.
> Did try strawberry once, it turned out horrible.
> 
> I bought a recipe book that has been a pretty big help.  Patience is the hard thing to master.



Always wanted to try my hand at it,with raspberries,,,,


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## gunnurse (Aug 23, 2018)

I’ve always found that more sugar at the beginning boosts alcohol content, but not always sweetness. I sweeten my dessert wines on the back end of the process after fermentation has been stopped. I actually made some very high proof blackberry once- like one good glass and you’re blistered.


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## Capt Quirk (Aug 23, 2018)

fireman32 said:


> I’ve made a few batches, BlackBerry is normally dry and my bride prefers it sweetened at bottling. The pear is a light red, but started out clear, it is sweet as is.  The pear is also her favorite.  The plum has aged one month and is promising to be sweet.  All my wines have been 11-12%. Not sure how that affects  taste either.
> Did try strawberry once, it turned out horrible.
> 
> I bought a recipe book that has been a pretty big help.  Patience is the hard thing to master.


If you didn't  like Strawberry,  definitely  don't  try Watermelon.  It's  good if it comes out right,  but it usually doesn't.


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## Capt Quirk (Aug 23, 2018)

Adding sugar has its limits, when making alcohol. The yeast eats the sugar, converting it to alcohol as a waste. When the alcohol content gets too high (about 15%-20%), the yeast dies. Champagne yeast yields the highest alcohol...  I think.


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## Capt Quirk (Aug 23, 2018)

Adding sugar has its limits, when making alcohol. The yeast eats the sugar, converting it to alcohol as a waste. When the alcohol content gets too high (about 15%-20%), the yeast dies. Champagne yeast yields the highest alcohol...  I think.


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## Artfuldodger (Aug 24, 2018)

KyDawg said:


> I drank some homemade roastneer wine one time and it was very good, the guy that made is died years ago and I never found anymore.



That sounds interesting. I found some recipes on the net. This one looks pretty good using a tea bag for tannin. I wonder what adding 6-8 raisins to a gallon of wine is for?

I made some apple wine that was very dry. It had to age a long time before it was drinkable. I put some of it in some Grolsch beer bottles with a spoon of sugar and 6 raisins. It made a nice sparkling cider that was way better than the apple wine. I thing the raisins were for the yeast but in the following corn wine recipe he adds wine yeast.

http://prepperswill.com/how-to-make-country-wine/


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## JustUs4All (Aug 24, 2018)

BriarPatch99 said:


> Nic ... I have missed the last two years ... My grapes have not made enough grapes ...
> 
> I did have about 500 catalpa worms the other day ...started to call you but they went down before I did ...



That would have been some weird wine.


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## Cmp1 (Aug 24, 2018)

gunnurse said:


> I’ve always found that more sugar at the beginning boosts alcohol content, but not always sweetness. I sweeten my dessert wines on the back end of the process after fermentation has been stopped. I actually made some very high proof blackberry once- like one good glass and you’re blistered.


Some of the best wines in Germany are called Ice Wine, they harvest the grapes after a freeze, highest sugar content, expensive also,,,,


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## KyDawg (Aug 24, 2018)

Artfuldodger said:


> That sounds interesting. I found some recipes on the net. This one looks pretty good using a tea bag for tannin. I wonder what adding 6-8 raisins to a gallon of wine is for?
> 
> I made some apple wine that was very dry. It had to age a long time before it was drinkable. I put some of it in some Grolsch beer bottles with a spoon of sugar and 6 raisins. It made a nice sparkling cider that was way better than the apple wine. I thing the raisins were for the yeast but in the following corn wine recipe he adds wine yeast.
> 
> http://prepperswill.com/how-to-make-country-wine/



I might try that. I remember my uncle making wine, and he put a balloon over the top of the jug he was using. I wonder if this serves the same purpose as the air lock.


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## fireman32 (Aug 24, 2018)

Pretty sure raisins are for extra sugar, some fruit like blueberries need a little help in that area.  I follow a recipe and try not to vary much on the sugar.  Haven’t tried to alter the alcohol content, it seems the recipes are tailored to around 9-12% depending on the fruit.  My recipes call for .25 pound of sugar per gallon plus stabilizer At bottling for a sweeter wine.
How long do you let your wine age?  The pear is palatable at 2 months, but the blackberry takes awhile longer.  My book recommends racking every 2 months to help clear the wine but also warns that racking too soon will eliminate some of the flavor.


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## BriarPatch99 (Aug 24, 2018)

JustUs4All said:


> That would have been some weird wine.



Nic likes good wine and catalpa worms !  Just not in the same bottle !


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## fireman32 (Aug 24, 2018)

This is the recipe I use, it’s for one gallon. I generally make 4-6 gallons of each flavor.


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## gunnurse (Aug 24, 2018)

I am about to uncork a blackberry wine that has been sitting for four years. Oh boy!!


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## Crakajak (Aug 29, 2018)

BriarPatch99 said:


> Nic likes good wine and catalpa worms !  Just not in the same bottle !


Briarpatch wine....Don't eat the worm
I need to get you recipe for your  musadine wine


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## fireman32 (Aug 30, 2018)

The pear just had its first racking.  In a couple of weeks or so it will turn a light red.


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## HuntNC (Oct 29, 2018)

any update?  i've made some scuppernong and muscadine this year... 10 gallons of each... on to the bulk aging at this point as they have been dry for weeks... and already backsweetened.  wanting to make pear next year


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## dwhee87 (Nov 3, 2018)

Y'all should give mead a try. Honey, water, yeast, and if you want, spices or fruit for some added flavor. You can buy mead yeast for either dry or sweet. I used to use champagne yeast, but found I got more predictable results with the mead yeast. It'll get up to about 13-14% alcohol.

After it's been in the bottle for a few years (what I have now is 4 years old), it is something special.


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## fireman32 (Nov 3, 2018)

Just racked all three wines yesterday.  The blackberry is mellowing out just fine and promises to be the sweetest of the three.  The plum started with the highest alcohol taste and smell of the group, it is also becoming more tolerable. It does seem to be taking longer than the rest to tone down to an actual fruit flavor.  It also appears to be a dry wine with a bit of the tart flavor of a not completely  ripe plum.
The pear which was started roughly a month after the other two has the best flavor as of now. Hoping they’ll be close to ready to bottle by Christmas, but I may be being impatient.  
This pic is of the pear, if you look close you can still see bits of fruit floating around, hopefully the next racking will have them all clear.


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## fireman32 (Dec 28, 2018)

Got it bottled, gonna wait awhile to try it.


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## BriarPatch99 (Dec 28, 2018)

Looks good to me ... I didn't make any this year ....we did pay a visit to Huber Winery in Ky Monday and picked up some good sweet red .. they make some BlackBerry also ...but it ain't like what I make...


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## GeorgiaBob (Dec 28, 2018)

The French, and most Italians, name their wines from the type of grape (usually named from the area a specific grape is first developed) OR from the region (if the wine is either a combination of grapes from an area, or is the principle grape of the region). Note that some regions, like the Champagne Province of France or Chianti region of Tuscany Province, Italy, are actually named AFTER the grape developed there! Germans are inventive (Liebfraumilch, means Beloved Lady's milk), English boring. In California, most wines are named after the grape vines they imported even though the wine tastes very different than the European original.

If you are NOT using a specific type of French or Italian grape there is no reason to accept snobby French naming practice!  Call it what you want to call it. My Dad tried wine making after he retired.  Some of it was OK, some - - not so much.  One of his best he named, "Uh-Oh." He had fancy labels and lead seals over the corks.  Mom liked a wine Dad made from fresh picked blueberries, that turned out to be very dark and sweet - that label was, "Mom's Passion."

Have fun, enjoy!


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