Adding Hint of Cherry to Muscadine Wine

[jonereb]

I'm thinking about adding a hint of cherry to this years Muscadine wine. I need advice on how many pounds of cherries I should add so that I get a hint of cherry flavor -- and not overpower the flavor of the muscadines. If I normally use 10 pounds of muscadines, how many pounds of cherries should I substitute? I'm thinking maybe 9 pounds to 1 pound of cherries?

 

[jgmillr1]

I can't answer your question directly but I can share some fruit blends I've done so you can apply what is relevant. When I make (sour) cherry wine, I use upwards of 10lbs per gallon and it tastes like rich cherry pie. Black cherries can be more subtle than red-tart cherries, however. I've also made a couple raspberry/white wine blends where I've blended in about 15% fruit juice. That gives a very obvious aroma/taste of raspberry in the wine.

I've never had muscadine wine so I have no clue on its flavor profile or strength. So I would start with your suggestion of substituting in 1lb of cherries. That should give you the "hint" of cherry without being a stronger fruit-infused wine.

 

[jonereb]

Thx! I hadn't considered black cherries -vs- red tart cherries. But black is what I think I have in mind -- something more subtle.

 

[GHBWNY]

For cherry flavor, I always use a bottle of Robitussin. Takes care of your cold while making you forget you even have one.

 

[mrbeachroach]

I just made a chocolate strawberry Muscadine wine. It turned out excellent. The advice I would give you used to make a cherry wine and Muscadine, then play around with blending them and bottling time. For me the best plan was 2/3 rds, straw to 1/3 Muscadine.

Doing it this way will give you the best results as you can and just the flavors up-and-down with the quantity mixed at bottling. You also get to play around with a new wine.