Commercial Cherry Wine

I’m still trying to get the hang of cherry wine, but while I tinker and tweak I might be able to buy some from the Ten Spoon Vineyard. This Montana winery uses Lambert cherries from Flathead Lake to make a dry red wine. I always get excited when I find the pros making “fruit wine.” I got some great advice on making rhubarb wine from the Lynfred Winery, and I’m hoping the people at Ten Spoon will share some tidbits.

I haven’t looked in on last year’s cherry wine since July, when I noticed a problem with the acidity. The total acidity (TA) was too high, which I would ordinarily address by neutralizing some of it. The pH was high as well, and that made my job tougher. If I went ahead and neutralized some of the acid to get the TA down, I would also be raising the already-too-high pH. So my thought was to leave the acid alone and balance it with sugar. Maybe I can get some advice on this – and find out if any of the shops around here carry Ten Spoon’s cherry wine!



Was this helpful? If you got something out of this article, why not spread the word? You can click any of the icons below to share it on your favorite social media outlet. Everyone likes a pat on the back - even me!

4 thoughts on “Commercial Cherry Wine

  1. Eric

    I recently harvested about 12 pounds of cherries, which I want to make into a cherry mead. Do I need to remove the pits from the cherries, or can I just crush them, add honey, water & yeast?

    I don’t know the variety, they came with the house. They are a light red and rather tart, more of a pie cherry. I’ve made meads with the cherries before and they were great, but I haven’t had to deal with 12 pounds before, and I’d rather not pit them, if I don’t have to.

    Thanks,
    -Eric

    Reply
  2. Erroll Post author

    Hi Eric,

    It’s good to hear from you again. I just crush my cherries, toss them in, and ferment normally. You might consider a short (three day) skin contact though. I don’t know if it’s the pits or not, but I find I prefer cherry wines/meads that are pressed after three days to those that ferment on the skin (and pits) for over a week.

    Good luck, and let me know how it turns out.

    Erroll

    Reply
  3. Eric

    Thanks! I did a little bit of looking and found that the pits do contain a cyanide like substance, but as long as they remain intact and are not ingested, it shouldn’t be a problem.

    I don’t usually rack my wines that early, maybe I’ll try it this time.

    Thanks again!
    -Eric

    Reply
  4. Erroll Post author

    I think there are trace amounts of cyanide, or a related substance, in other seeds too. At any rate, I’ll bet you’re going to end up with a terrific mead!

    Erroll

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *