fruit wine question

hello all! I havebeen making wine now for two years...but I still can't learn enough. I make mostly fruit wines out of whatever is in season.
My question is...when I crush my fruit and the recipe calls for boiling or hot water to be poured over my fruit,why is this?

I made strawberry wine two years ago and just poured room temp water over my crushed berries in the primary, everyone told me that it was excellent...great fresh strawberry smell, and a fresh strawberry finish.
I used the exact same recipe last year except I used boiling water instead...the strawberry taste was not as intense as the previous year...

any thoughts ?

oh, I have peach and elderberyy going right now...and the smell from the carboys is driving my wife nuts!

First of all: Welcome
Second...HOT water helps to dissolve sugars, and is also a pretty good start to sanitation. You'll still need campdon or someting to finish, but hot never hurts.

I always add a campden tab or two into the primary with the must. thanks for the quick reply...and yes hot water does dissolve the sugars better. I should have refined my question...does adding hot water alter the fresh flavor of the fruits I am trying to ferment?

gunwolf said:

..does adding hot water alter the fresh flavor of the fruits I am trying to ferment?

Click to expand...

I would assume not, but given my views on heating honey, I can definitely see where it could drive off some of the more delicate flavors.

I think that you can attribute the change in taste to the actual quality of the fruit itself. One year you had a better crop than another.

Just pouring hot water would probably only have a minimal affect on the taste as BK alluded. Now if you boilde the fruit for 20+ minutes then you would have affected the taste, odor etc.

I'm sure it will be goof wine though!