Chokecherry Red Number Two

started 9/2/2003
bottled 1/24/2004

Alcohol 12.5%
Initial SG 1.094
Final SG 0.990 sweetened to 1.000
pH ND TA ND

Tasting Notes

3/14/2004 The color is a light red. The nose has a clean subtle cherry smell. The flavor is light and crisp with just a hint of sweetness. This has turned out to be nicely balanced rosé style wine. There is not a depth of cherry flavor like the reserve batch, but this would be great with a grilled burger. There is just a touch of tannin astringency that bites the tongue.

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9/2/2003

26.4 pounds of chokecherries, picked three weeks ago, frozen and then thawed were placed in the primary. 4 gallons of boiling water were added to the mostly thawed berries. These were thoroughly mashed. After the must had cooled to lukewarm, pectic enzyme was added.

9/3/2004

After 24 hours, the pulp was strained from the must and squeezed by hand to extract as much juice as possible. The juice was used for the reserve wine. To the pulp was added 1 gallon of apple juice, 2 gallons water, 1.5 tsp tartaric acid, 1 cup fresh lemon juice, 1.5 tsp fermaid, 1/8 tsp tannin and 6 pounds of sugar. This brought the SG up to 1.080. An addition 2.25 pounds sugar raised the gravity to 1.094. Lalvin EC-1118 yeast was sprinkled on top of the must.

9/7/2003

The pulp was strained and squeezed by hand to yield about 4 gallons of must. SG 1.024. The wine was placed into a 5 gallon carboy.

9/21/2003

SG 0.990. Racked into a 3 gallon carboy plus 1 quart bottle. 1.2 g potassium metabisulfite were added. The color is dark but thinner than the first wine. The flavor is not quite as smooth and there is some astringency from the pulp. This will be a good wine.

11/24/2003

The flavor is kind of light and the color is light red. This is a little more harsh than the reserve batch. SG 0.990. This was sweetened to about 2.5% residual sugar by addition of 9 oz sugar. SG 0.999. 2.25 g sorbate and 1.2 g sulfit were added. This was racked into a 3 gallon carboy and a 650 mL bottle.

1/24/2004

Filtered through #2 pads. SG 1.000. Bottled into 15 750 mL bottles.