Adding oranges to wine

[brewnvt]

Hi All, I have a recipe for a carrot wine that I want to try and the recipe says to add 6 oranges, juice and rind. Do people normall just shave the orange off of the rind and add that to their wine or do they throw the whole rind into the fermenter? My thought is that the whole rind would sour the wine a little bit.

 

[Yooper]

Hi All, I have a recipe for a carrot wine that I want to try and the recipe says to add 6 oranges, juice and rind. Do people normall just shave the orange off of the rind and add that to their wine or do they throw the whole rind into the fermenter? My thought is that the whole rind would sour the wine a little bit.

You want to take the rind and separate the zest from the pith. That white stuff under the colored zest is terribly bitter and is not good in wine. You'll add the juice, of course, and just the colored part of the rind.

 

[brewnvt]

Thanks. I've seen a couple of recipes that call for oranges and lemons in them. What's the purpose of adding these to your wine?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks. I've seen a couple of recipes that call for oranges and lemons in them. What's the purpose of adding these to your wine?

They provide some acidity (in the form of citric acid) and some flavor to the wine.