Raspberry Wine #2
Almost before the first raspberry wine was out of the fermentor I started a second batch. The smell was just TOO amazing. Check out the recipe for the first raspberry wine here. The second wine was started on August 12, 2017.
Raspberry Wine #2
5 lbs raspberries from the garden
1 tsp pectolase
pinch k-meta
4 cups water, hot
Mash all ingredients into a 2 gallon fermentation bucket. The raspberries from this batch had sat in the fridge for several days, so I had to sort through and throw an occasional moldy berry out.
Day 3:
1 tsp yeast nutrient
lees from Raspberry Wine #1
2 1/2 cups strong tea (3 bags) + 2 lbs sugar, dissolved
2 cups water
Stir ingredients into the fermenter.
Day 4: Bubbling happily.
Day 15: Strained into 1 gallon glass carboy.
Day 28: Racked into new carboy, topped up with 3/4 cup red grape concentrate mixture. The taste is amazing! Very intense raspberry flavor and aroma, much better than Raspberry Wine #1.
Day 51: Racked into a new carboy. Some floating matter on top. Smell – explosively raspberry. Taste, pleasant balance, could bottle immediately! Color, still vibrant hot pink.
Day 53: Taste, slightly oxidized at the top? Still strong berry flavor, but seemed more ‘young’ to tasters. Recommended oak. Acidic.
Day 57: Added 1/8 cup American oak medium toast chips (soaked in sanitizing solution for a few minutes).
Day 73: Racked off oak chips, topped up with Raspberry #1. Sipping over the last week, American oak has given an unpleasant ‘green’ wood flavor but desirable oak. The raspberry aroma and dark color are still excellent. After the last tasting, decided a blend with elderberry would be a great match…flavor and aroma of the raspberry with the extra body of the elderberry.
Day 90: Still slightly ‘green’ flavor from the oak, but raspberry flavor very strong, delicious! Smoke mostly gone. The color is much darker then the first batch.
Day 125: Added 12 French oak cubes (chocolate/vanilla flavor profile).
Day 219: Tasted, still has great raspberry flavor, sharpness has mellowed, and the oak has really added a lot of depth. Ready to bottle.
Day 220: Bottled Raspberry #2 into 1.5 L bag, 2 750 ml bottles, 2 375 ml bottles.