Fruit Wines: Mastering the Balance of Flavor, Clarity, and Character

Almost any fruit or vegetable can be fermented into an alcoholic beverage. Grapes dominate the wine market but many other fruits such as peach, pomegranate, cherry, blueberry, and apples make quite delicious wines.

Fruit wines, when made right, preserve the unique flavors and aromas of the fruits they were made from. They present several challenges during the wine making process. Whereas grapes contain sufficient sugar levels to yield the desired levels of alcohol following fermentation, most fruits are not as sweet and will require sugar addition before fermentation to generate the desired alcohol content in the wine. Certain fruits tend to be excessively acidic. Sweetening before bottling is a common practice for balancing extra acidity, like adding sugar to lemonade to balance the tartness of the lemon juice. Finally, many fruits contain poly-saccharide fibers, called pectins, that make the wine hazy. Enzymatic treatment is often utilized to break down these pesky pectins and clarify the wine.

Because of their fruitiness and sweetness, fruit wines not only make a fun beverage on their own but can also be blended with fruit juices and spices to make popular seasonal warm alcoholic beverages. Mulled wine is a warm cocktail whose origin can be traced back to ancient Rome. At our winery, Evansburg Vineyards, we use our Blueberry wine along with our sweet red wine, Joy, and mix it with orange juice. A special blend of spices including cinnamon and cloves is added, and the concoction is warmed for a few hours to facilitate the extraction of spice aromas. Mulled wine is served warm with a cinnamon stick.

A fall favorite is our spooky cider wine. Pom, a wine which is made from a locally sourced blend of fresh apple and pear juice, is the backbone of this drink. Apple juice is added for sweetness and to intensify the apple flavor. A few hours of low temperature cooking with a spice mix add the finishing touch to this warm fall cocktail.

Fruit wines are still occupying a small niche in the wine market. However, the popularity of fruit wine is growing, especially among those who seek novel flavors of this traditional beverage.