I opened a bottle of my apple/mango/passion fruit made from Old Orchard
frozen concentrate last night and was really surprised at how good it
was.

Not that I intended to make lousy wine but this batch is very good and
it was a bit of a surprise to me how it has developed from the last
time I tasted it. The strong tart taste is gone.

I made 6 batches back to back to start this hobby and they are all
fairly close together time wise so it's going to be interesting to see
how the others turn out. At this point this is certainly a wine I could
be happy to make more of and be proud of how it turns out enough to
give away as gifts.

The only thing I think I'll do different next time is bring the alc %
up some. I'm at around 11% and one of our favorite brands is at
14.5%.....we could tell the difference.

I'm still surprised at how good it turned out. It's a tropical fruit
sort of thing that tastes so much like "wine"...I'd never guess it's
mostly apple (frozen concentrate) rather than a 100% real grape wine.

John F

Be carefull with raising the alcohol content. An unbalanced wine is an
undrinkable wine.

Droopy wrote:
> Be carefull with raising the alcohol content. An unbalanced wine is an
> undrinkable wine.

I hope 14% is reasonable without getting unbalanced...it's a 3% jump.
??

I'm glad they came out for you; I've always had good luck using Old Orchard
fruit juices. I guess I would caution you on trying to raise the % alcohol
up too high. I usually stick with 11-12%. Sometimes if you go to high, all
you can taste is "what I call" the alcohol kick, and you don't get to taste
the flavor of the wine. I've made "by accident" a couple of high % alcohol
wines, and it does take longer for those wines to smooth out. But it is up
to your tastebuds and what you prefer....
Darlene ;o)

"John F" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I opened a bottle of my apple/mango/passion fruit made from Old Orchard
> frozen concentrate last night and was really surprised at how good it
> was.
>
> Not that I intended to make lousy wine but this batch is very good and
> it was a bit of a surprise to me how it has developed from the last
> time I tasted it. The strong tart taste is gone.
>
> I made 6 batches back to back to start this hobby and they are all
> fairly close together time wise so it's going to be interesting to see
> how the others turn out. At this point this is certainly a wine I could
> be happy to make more of and be proud of how it turns out enough to
> give away as gifts.
>
> The only thing I think I'll do different next time is bring the alc %
> up some. I'm at around 11% and one of our favorite brands is at
> 14.5%.....we could tell the difference.
>
> I'm still surprised at how good it turned out. It's a tropical fruit
> sort of thing that tastes so much like "wine"...I'd never guess it's
> mostly apple (frozen concentrate) rather than a 100% real grape wine.
>
> John F
>

"John F" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> The only thing I think I'll do different next time is bring the alc %
> up some. I'm at around 11% and one of our favorite brands is at
> 14.5%.....we could tell the difference.

As others have mentioned, it is definitely possible to overdo the alcohol.
11% is a bit on the low side, but I wouldn't recommend that you zoom right
up to 14½%. A wine needs rather intense fruit and/or residual sugar to
cover that much alcohol. Try 12½ - 13% first.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com

congrats

Well instead of looking at a 3% jump look at it this way it is a 27%
increase of alcohol. If it was balanced at 11%, do you think the
sugar, acidity and fruit will be able to handle a 27% increase alcohol
while remaining at their former levels and still be balanced?

That is like the differnce in driving 75 on the interstate instead of
60, in a car that was built to do 60. It will get you where you are
going a lot faster that is true....but you are also much more likely to
die in a terrible firey crash.

Congratulations on a successful introduction to this great hobby. It is
surprising how good of a wine you can make. Listen to others and their
suggestions but remember that you are crafting wine for your own taste. If
you want to try 14.5%, by all means do so. If it goes too far you can
always drop back with the next batch.

How long did you need to age it to make it drinkable? I find that frozen
concentrate wines age out pretty quick. In that case experiment.

Ray

"John F" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I opened a bottle of my apple/mango/passion fruit made from Old Orchard
> frozen concentrate last night and was really surprised at how good it
> was.
>
> Not that I intended to make lousy wine but this batch is very good and
> it was a bit of a surprise to me how it has developed from the last
> time I tasted it. The strong tart taste is gone.
>
> I made 6 batches back to back to start this hobby and they are all
> fairly close together time wise so it's going to be interesting to see
> how the others turn out. At this point this is certainly a wine I could
> be happy to make more of and be proud of how it turns out enough to
> give away as gifts.
>
> The only thing I think I'll do different next time is bring the alc %
> up some. I'm at around 11% and one of our favorite brands is at
> 14.5%.....we could tell the difference.
>
> I'm still surprised at how good it turned out. It's a tropical fruit
> sort of thing that tastes so much like "wine"...I'd never guess it's
> mostly apple (frozen concentrate) rather than a 100% real grape wine.
>
> John F
>
>

> That is like the differnce in driving 75 on the interstate instead of
> 60, in a car that was built to do 60.

And if you are drinking your 14% wine while driving, oh MY!