What wine is good young?

I'm looking for a wine, either commercially available to purchase or an inexpensive recipe, that tastes nice when young.

In Russian folktales they have a "strong green wine" whose "strength was magical in that it was not acquired by keeping, but was always the same"

I'm interpreting that to mean that it was a wine ready to drink soon after fermentation, and did not need aging to produce quality flavors.

I know a low alcohol wine will generally be ready to drink before a high alcohol wine. While I don't need a truly high alcohol wine I don't think anything under 12.5% could ever be described as strong.

Is there a style or brand that is generally better young?
Can someone recommend a grape wine that is good when young?

I have just made my 2nd batch of Pino Grisio White Wine. On bottling day, I sampled it and it was great.

I think that a key would be to keep it non complex, and very low ABV. Something like and fruity, with an ABV of about 8% or less would probably taste really good without aging. Once you get to 10% or so, there is a risk of the wine being a bit "hot" or boozy and it would need some aging.

Oak also needs time to mellow, and so do fruits with lots of acid or tannins.

Some fruits to try would be apples or crabapples, blueberries, and I like the idea of a low ABV dandelion wine.

Sweetening a wine also means less aging, as the sweetness covers a few flaws and means a good wine without depth.

After fermentation is done (about 3 weeks), if the wine is clear it could be stabilized and then sweetened and be pretty good immediately.

Skeeter Pee(http://skeeterpee.com/) comes in at around 10% and is ready right away. It taste good, cheap, and is ready fast!

Yooper, I was hoping you would answer, but...
The wine needs to be a grape wine over 12.5%

Thanks for the info about sweetening though.

The wine will be mixed equal parts (1:1:1) with a sweet mead and a beer (probably a rye ale).

Halbrust said:

Yooper, I was hoping you would answer, but...
The wine needs to be a grape wine over 12.5%

Thanks for the info about sweetening though.

The wine will be mixed equal parts (1:1:1) with a sweet mead and a beer (probably a rye ale).

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Your best bet for a young wine is a white wine or a light body red. How soon do you need it? Most of mine start tasting pretty good 3 months after fermentation started.

Halbrust said:

Yooper, I was hoping you would answer, but...
The wine needs to be a grape wine over 12.5%

Thanks for the info about sweetening though.

The wine will be mixed equal parts (1:1:1) with a sweet mead and a beer (probably a rye ale).

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Anything over 12.5% will need time to mellow and not be hot/harsh. But mixing it with mead and beer? No clues on what to say about that.

Yooper said:

mixing it with mead and beer? No clues on what to say about that.

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I'm with you!!!
But it's a drink from a 1916 book, telling stories from the late 900s. I'm just going to try and make it taste as good as possible within the restraints of the accounts.

novalou said:

Your best bet for a young wine is a white wine or a light body red. How soon do you need it? Most of mine start tasting pretty good 3 months after fermentation started.

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3 months sounds fine to me.

Would a Welch's white grape juice wine work? Or do you think I need to buy a wine kit?

Halbrust said:

Is there a style or brand that is generally better young?
Can someone recommend a grape wine that is good when young?

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Check out Beaujolais Nouveau if you are looking specifically for a grape wine. Its only available in the fall, November I think, but is prized specifically as being young, generally from harvest to glass in less than 8 weeks (and around 12%). Low in tannins, as expected, very fruity and quite good.

It would be nearly impossible to reproduce, and Welch's would not work. Very wrong type of grape. They make some 1 month wine kits (Prestige, Cornucopia, off the top of my head) which aren't very good, but are OK. If 3 months is OK, I'd get a decent kit. WineExpert and Heritage Estates are good at 3-4 months. they get better with time, but they are pretty good young.

Halbrust said:

3 months sounds fine to me.

Would a Welch's white grape juice wine work? Or do you think I need to buy a wine kit?

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I mad a wine recently that I think was good at 30 days personally. I am sure it will smooth out over 5 - 6 months and even more so after a year but it will not last that long lol. My recipe was this:

4 cans of Welch's White grape peach concentrate.
1 TBS black tea (Stash brand Earl Grey)
1 tsp DAP
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
Water to a gallon
Yeast: Lalvin 71b

I am sure you could just use the Welch's White grape concentrate and follow the same recipe. I have not tried this without the white grape peach so can't say for sure on how it will be. Starting gravity should be 1.08 - 1.095. It should ferment dry in no later than2 weeks at room temp. Throw the gallon in the fridge after that and this was crystal clear in another couple weeks. I just bottled strait off the lees and had 4 perfect wine bottles. This recipe is good dry but if you wanted you could stabilize and back sweeten a bit.

I would think Joe's Quick Grape Mead might be perfect. Not too bad in 3 months, above 12% and it's 2 out of 3 if you're mixing wine, mead and beer.
Whatever you decide, please post what you do and how it turns out. Sounds crazy but hey, you never know.

The Pino Grisio White Wine I made was around 12%. It tasted pretty good on bottling day. It did get even better over time, but was great right from the start.

I would say if you need something over 12.5% and need it fast your best best is to go with a Riesling or a Pino Gris. Ferment, stabilize, backsweeten and clear. You could have it in the bottle in around 2 months and let it bottle age until you need it.

Unfortunately you are not going to find a wine that is not sweet that tastes very good after 3 months.

Anything to look for beside "Nouveau" or "young" if I decide to purchase rather than make?
My research shows that at the time mead and beer were brewed at home, but most wines were imported.

My wine was a Winexpert World Vineyard Italian Pino Grisio. Total time was about 1 month brewing -> bottling. Sampled 1 bottle after 1 day in the fridge and it was pretty good. All 29 bottles are gone now after only 7 weeks, between my wife and I and a few friends. I am in the process of making more now, hopefully this time they will last longer

Wine expert white merlot

reinstone said:

Wine expert white merlot

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+1

Or Winexpert Washington Valley Riesling

Both great after just 3-4 months.

Winexpert Mezza Luna Red

Forget the grape and try an apple... you won't be dissatisfied!

After finding an apple wine recipe, and more research, I modified the original recipe to this:

5 gallons fresh sweet apple cider from a local fruit farm.
5 lbs C&H sugar (the pink and white bag)
7 tsp Yeast nutrient
7 1/2 tsp Acid blend
1 1/4 tsp Wine Tannin
5 campden tabs
1 packet Lalvin EC-118 Yeast

I put the cider, 5 tsp nutrient, acid blend, tannin, and campden tabs, 4 lbs sugar in the primary. I topped it with an empty airlock for 24 hrs.
Re hydrating the yeast was a bit tricky at first, but figured out that if you put 2 oz (I used a shot glass) in a coffee mug, then nuked it for 2 1/2 mins. This brought the temp to 160F, I added 2 1/2 ice cubes which brought the temps down to a cool 105F. Mixed in the yeast and put it back in the microwave to keep warm for 15 mins. The temps drop to about 97F in that time. I put that in the must and let ferment 5 days. On the 5th day I added the 5th lb sugar and 2 more tsp nutrient (probably not needed) . After 7 days I transferred into a glass carboy and let set. I decided not to use the pectic enzyme at all. Gravity did an AMAZING job of clarifying. I siphoned off two 2 liter bottles and went to town. Every one enjoyed the product and I got plenty tipsy.
The next weekend, I I added the ascorbic acid and 5 more campden tabs. Let sit another 24 hrs then made 1 bottle and took the rest back to town, Between 6 people or so, nearly 3 gallons got us all SMASHED!!! I had nearly zero hangover! I even think the headache could have been wadded up coats I used for a pillow when I passed out on the couch!

I have started a new batch, using Morena pure cane sugar (un refined) and I upped the dosage to 8 lbs. According to the hydrometer that should net about 14% ABV. My vinometer said 11% for my first batch. The new batch will be racked maybe 3 times before the canoe trip.

This weekend I am going to get the Cherry cider from the same vendor and hopefully apply the same recipe/technique.

Does anyone have input on use of cherry cider? Will it clear like apple on it's own without enzyme? Will a coffee filter do any good, or be a waste of time? I don't care to buy anymore equipment IE filtration. I like the rustic appearance I have achieved with my first batch.

Please comment or add suggestions!

The Cherry Cider should clear as well as the normal cider but I would say you should get much better results with the enzyme added.

I think coffee filter would be a wast of time. It is not fine enough to get the individual yeast cells cleaned out. If it is super cloudy it may help some but once it is starting to clear on it's own, further coffee filter treatments will probably not noticably effect it.

I would suggest using Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast rather than the 1118. You will preserve more aroma and 71b metabolizes malic acid; which apples have plenty of, and that will give you a smoother taste.