Raspberry Chocolate

I bottled my Raspberry Chocolate Port-style wine last week that had been aging in the secondary for the past 13 months. I had my first taste while I was bottling the three gallon batch in 375 ml bottles.

I made a batch of Orange Chocolate Port-style wine a couple of years ago and I thought it was a little better - a little more chocolate nose and taste. The raspberry is more tart and not quite as sweet so my opinion is strictly subjective. I have to say that I think this one will fly from the cellar just as quickly as gifts as did the Orange Chocolate.

That is one awsome label!!

Thanks for the information, I was looking at trying to get a Raspberry Chocolate kit. I have seen the Orange one and thought it sounded delicious.

BTW how do you make your labels? Newbie minds wanna know!

edit: You are an excellent photographer too. Nice set up, I like the Budda and Celtic cross in the background!

Thanks - for my labels I lift images off the net (I have quite a bit of free time at work), use MS Word and WordArt, an inkjet printer (can't allow the labels to get wet or they'll run), and the office paper cutter. I save the file and simply change images and the names for the next batch. I attach the labels with a glue stick and they float right off in hot water.

Thanks for the info!

I was thinking about trying Wade's Strawberry Chocolate port. What are your thoughts on that? or should I stick with a kit?

Just curious are your family/friends excited at Christmas to see what else comes out of your cellar?

I'm not familiar with Wade's Strawberry Chocolate port. I've attempted adding chocolate in various forms to wine and mead in the past and I've tried attempts by others and I never found even a slight comparison with these Raspberry and Orange Chocolate kits. With the home efforts, the chocolate "essence" is there but the full chocolate effect is missing. The kits are miles above any home effort I've ever tasted before. With these kits (very closely guarded recipes) you can literally hold a glass at arm's length and smell the chocolate coming from it and drinking it is like drinking a chocolate bar. I'd love to find a recipe that provides the same effect.

I give away my wine and mead all year so Christmas isn't really anything special.

From winemakingtalk.com

3 Gallon recipe
15 lbs – Fresh Strawberries diced up
7 1/2 lbs – White Table Sugar
3 tsp – Acid Blend
1/2 tsp – Tannin
2 cups – Ghirardelli or Hershey's Cocoa Powder
3 tsp – Yeast Nutrient
1 1/2 tsp – Yeast Energizer
3 Gallons – Water
1/8 tsp – Liquid Pectic Enzyme
1/8 tsp – K-Meta
These are extra ingredients for after wine is stable.
8 ounces – Liquid Chocolate Extract
3– Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Mix
2 lbs – White Table Sugar added to 1 Cup Boiling Water
14 ounces – Monin Strawberry Syrup
1 Pint – E&J Brandy
Pour 1 gallon of warm water in 5 gallon primary bucket or bigger. Add K-meta, Tannin, Yeast Energizer, Yeast Nutrient, and Ascorbic Acid and stir well. Put all fruit in fermenting bag and squeeze over primary to extract most of juices and then put bag in primary. Pour the 1 gallon of boiling water with all dissolved sugar over fruit. Add another 3/4 gallon of cool water in. Take 4 cups of water and the 2 cups of Cocoa powder and mix in blender on low speed and then add this to primary and stir well. You should have a SG of around 1.110 give or take a little, if more then add a little more water, if less then add a little more dissolved sugar in small amount of water as sugars from fruit can vary a little. Let sit for 12 hours with lid loose or with a cloth covering bucket with elastic band or string tied around so as that not to sag in must. After those 12 hours add your Pectic Enzyme and wait another 12 hours while also adjusting your must temp to around 75 degrees. After those twelve hours, pitch your yeast either by sprinkling yeast, dehydrating yeast per instructions on back of yeast Sachet, or by making a yeast starter a few hours prior to the 12 hour mark. At this point either leave primary lid off with the cloth again, place lid on loose or snap the lid shut with airlock. Punch down cap twice daily to get all fruit under the liquid level. When SG reaches 1.015, rack to 6 gallon carboy and let finish fermenting with bung and airlock attached. When wine is done fermenting, (check a few days in a row to make sure SG does not change and SG should be around .998 or less), you can stabilize your wine now with 1/8 tsp of K-Meta powder and 1 1/2 tsp of Potassium Sorbate. At this Point I took all extra ingredients listed above and stirred it all in well and then add the wine to it and stir that in and add fining agent the transfer back to glass at which point you will have approximately 3 1/2 gallons. When cleared, rack off lees and bottle or bulk age with another 1/4 tsp of k-meta.