Another plum wine, this time with Santa Rosa plums from the store instead of the home -grown Italian plums I used in my previous batches. These plums are very ripe, getting a bit soft, and have a nice dark red color to them. I am going to make this wine without an initial recipe; I will juice the fruit, measure the SG and adjust to around 1.090, and try to add as little water as possible. This is in the hopes of getting more fruit flavor from the wine by adding less water, and also to try a slightly different method. I’m also making this wine a little weaker, so that I have some more variety in the strengths of the wines I am making this year.
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Process:
Washed and halved all of the plums, removing the stems and pits. Added all of the cut plums to the juicer, filling it almost to the top, and then turned on the heat and let the steam juicer work its magic. The yield was 1.75 gallons of juice at 1.044, and I was happy with that. I added sugar and water to reach a volume of a little over 2 gallons and an OG of 1.072.
I tested the acidity of the wine and it was 0.48% TA, so I added 1 tsp of acid blend to reach a TA of 0.55%. I then added the pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, and grape tannin to the must. After letting the wine cool to about 90 F, I pitched the yeast and sealed the bucket with an airlock.
10-23-10: Put into primary bucket, OG measured at 1.072.
11-6-10: Racked to two 1-gallon carboys, SG measured at 1.000.
4-14-11: Bottled into 21 12-ounce bottles.
Tags: plum wine, recipe, santa rosa plum, steam juicer, wine
Curious how your wine turned out. Sweet or dry.
I have a Santa Rosa Plum Tree and have been making
a rather dry very nice wine for several years. Total of
20 23 litre (30 bottles) batches. Recipe calls for 1.07 SG
I add sugar another 4 lbs of sugar to bring to 1.09. making about 12 % wine which keeps well. always interested in trying something different. Have also made blackberry, blueberry, a blend of those 2, cranberry, pineapple, and now maturing a rhubarb.
Hi Alice,
The wine turned out to be okay. It was a semi-dry wine and had a modest plum flavor to it. I prefer the wine I made with Italian plums, however, since it has a much more distinctive flavor. Some of the flavor from the Santa Rosa plums might have been lost because I made this batch using a steam juicer. I also think your suggestion of bringing the OG up to around 1.09 might have improved this wine a bit.
I’m interested in your Blueberry wine. I tried making a batch of it a while ago, but I could never get it to ferment even after adding fresh yeast and yeast nutrients. What recipe do you use?
I use a recipe I got from Spagnols where I buy my ingredients.
It used just under 15 lbs of pitted plums, which I had frozen including the skins.
Called for 6.6 lbs of sugar to which I added another 4 lbs. raising the SG from 1.07 to 1.09.
It called for a litre of red grape concentrate,
Plus the usual Acid Blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, liquid tannin, Potassium metabisulphite, Hot and cold water, Liquid Oak extract, and of course yeast (Montpelier) The recipe called for 2 part finings, but I am concerned about the shellfish content in some of those, so usually just use bentonite, which works fine for me, I rack carefully, usually ending up with nice clear product. although I have a filter / pump, I have never filtered my wine, I use the pump as I find the carboys too heavy to lift, so pump it unless I have someone around to lift the carboy up onto the counter for me. Originally I used to do a staged from one level to another lift myself from one level to another using full soft drink cases first one on its side, then 2 upright, then one flat on 2 upright till it was high enough to siphon, but too hard on the back and shoulders. I am well past my 65th.
Stir the fruit in the primary twice a day till it gets to 1.02, 6-10 days +/- then put it through a strainer bag and squeeze out as much juice as possible.This is at about 75 deg. then air locked carboy goes to cooler locatiion to complete, about 10 days to 1.00, rack, top up as required, rest 3 weeks, rack add finings, rest 10 days, rack again adding tiny bit of Pot. Metabisulphite mixed in a bit of wine, and the oak extract, stir well, age 3 months, bottle, age
sorry hit wrong key, aged 9-12 months, Enjoy. This is not a sweet wine.
I have had a problem with the usualy yeast instructions, Before adding the yeast, I remove about a quart and a half of the mixture, being heavy on the floating fruit, to a sterile rinsed glass container using saran as a cover, check the temp waiting if necessary till down to 75 deg (You have added some Hot water)
then sprinkle the yeast around the edge and when a good ferment has started 24-36 hours add to the covered primary.
I have heard that adding a little bentonite to a pure juice mix gives the yeast something to hang onto, suppose it would work with a fruit and juice mix, but my separate glass starter jar heavy on fruit pulp works fine. Tried that once with a stuck must. so now do it at the start now. Spagnols used to have the recipes on their website, but not sure they do now, as I have mine in printed form now. I am in British Columbia, Canada.
http://www.rjspagnols.com/en
heres my santa rosa plum wine recipe from my backyard grown trees
1. collect ripe plums
2. throw them in a bin, crush them in the bin with a bean masher
3. push down the cap and mix multiple times per day until it stops bubbling, then wait one more day. keep warm but not hot. cooler temps will slow fermentation and could let other pathogens take control
4. filter and press in a pillow case into sterile container
5. go thru your preferred clarify technique ….ENJOY!