FRUIT WINES
Workshop at Central Lakes College
Staples Ag Center.
June 7th, 2014
Farm Wineries
• Farm winery licenses are issued by the
commissioner of the Department of Public
Safety for $50 per year. A license authorizes
the on-premises sale of table, sparkling, or
fortified wines.
• Amounts are limited to 50,000 gallons in a
calendar year.
• In 2012, the legislature specified that farm
wineries must be located on agricultural land or
have a conditional use permit. Farm wineries in
existence before May 1, 2012, are exempt from
this requirement. This change was to ensure that
farm wineries were on farm lands.
• As a matter of definition, the law allows more
than wine from grapes to be produced at a farm
winery. The definition in Minnesota Statutes,
section 340A.101, subdivisions 27, 29, and 30,
include cider, vermouth, wine, and wine made
from crops other than grapes. In addition, the
law specifically allows the production of fortified
wines.
Farm wineries can:
• sell their products on Sundays between the
hours of 10 am and 12 midnight;
• sell via the Internet, up to two cases per
customer, as permitted in Minnesota
Statutes, section 340A.417;
• operate a restaurant or other establishment;
• give free samples to visitors;
• import, with special permits issued by the
commissioner, additional grapes to add to
their crops in an off-year for farm production;
and
• sell at a county fair with a temporary license
issued by local governments.
Bulk Wine
• There has been a long-standing requirement
that a majority of agricultural products used at
a farm winery be Minnesota products (Minn.
Stat. § 340A.315, subd. 4).
• In 2012, the legislature adopted a provision
allowing farm wineries to import bulk wine to
augment their winemaking, as long as this
bulk wine is not separately bottled, is less
than 10% of total production, and the bulk
wine counts as part of the 49% nonMinnesota grown component.
Distilleries
• In 2008, the legislature enacted a law that allows
farm wineries to produce distilled spirits (Minn. Stat.
§ 340A.315, subd. 7). Under this provision, distilled
spirits may comprise up to 500 of the 5,000 gallons
of alcoholic beverage that a farm winery can
manufacture.
• Farm wineries are allowed to provide small samples
of distilled spirits to customers, but must sell this
new product only through existing wholesalers.
• In 2011, the legislature passed a separate microdistillery licensing provision, creating a way for
small distillers to operate without a farm winery
license.
• By law, both the Minnesota Department of Agriculture
and the state’s Agricultural Utilization Research
Institute (AURI) are charged with developing and
diversifying Minnesota agriculture. Each organization
promotes grape growing and winemaking as
opportunities for farmers to diversify and capitalize on
the growing popularity of wine.
• The state’s tourism bureau also promotes farm winery
tours and wine-tasting events as an agritourism
opportunity for rural communities. The Explore
Minnesota Tourism Council maintains a list of
Minnesota wineries on its website, complete with the
hours of operation and information on nearby fall-color
driving routes.
• Currently there are 51 farm wineries licensed by the
Minnesota Department of Public Safety (June 2012)
• That represents nearly twice as many farm wineries
than there were just four years ago.
1
Grape vs Fruit wine overview
• The wine grape is virtually the only fruit which commonly
reaches a high enough sugar and the proper acid balance
for good-flavored and stable wine.
• Other fruits, including Vitis labrusca grapes and many
fermentable substances such as honey, require
adjustments of either sugar or acid or both to produce a
satisfactory wine-like product. Often yeast foods are added
to prevent fermentation problems.
• The rules for adding sugar are complex, but in general the
juice before fermentation may not exceed 25Brix. The
alcohol content should not exceed 14 percent, unless wine
spirits from the same kind of fruit have been added, and
the solids content should not exceed 21 percent by weight.
• Dried fruit, honey, and other fruit products have
similar permitted practices, except those with
high sugar content may be adjusted with water to
not less than 22Brix before fermentation, in most
cases.
• Most fruit-type wines are marketed as fresh fruity
products with as much as possible of the
characteristic flavor and color of the specific
fruit.
• They tend to lose their fruit flavor and develop
harshness or bitterness as they age or oxidize.
General Production Practices
• Fermentation may take place in the presence of the
whole macerated fruit. Usually the pulp is pressed off
and removed within two to three days to avoid
alcoholic extraction of bitter or haze-producing
substances.
• Often heat is used to disrupt cells of fruit to aid
pressing before fermentation. It is a common in
processing Concord grapes.
• Pectinase, pectin-splitting enzymes, are added to
increase juice yield and to help clarify the juice,
especially in high-pectin stone fruits such as plums.
• Wine yeast are added and usually nutrients such as
ammonium phosphate (DAP) and yeast extracts.
• Moderately high levels of sulfur dioxide (100 to
200 ppm) are used as the juice of these fruits are
highly susceptible to oxidative browning and other
deterioration.
• Minimal contact with air is also practiced.
Molecular SO2: 0.8
ppm
pH
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Free SO2
13
16
21
26
32
40
50
For a wine to be stable from
bacterial spoilage, Free SO2
levels need to be at higher
levels as pH levels increases.
Above 50 ppm Free SO2, the
wines will start to have a
noticeable “chemical” smell to
most people.
• Bentonite & Sparkaloid is used to remove proteins for clarity
and heat stability. Tannin levels is usually low and the wines
are not as stable to air, or as easily fined or clarified, as grape
wines.
• Sterile filtration or pasteurization ($) is often needed if there
is residual fermentable sugar in the bottle.
• Raw fruit material can be less costly, especially if suitable
substandard cheaper grade B produce is available.
• Multiple harvest periods (cherries in July to apples in
September) help to maximize the use of wine making
equipment and space out production.
• Frozen fruit is often good quality, adding to the flexibility of
production.
• Short fermentation periods and fast completion aid in quick
turnover for return on investment.
• Fruit wines range from dry still table wine to light fruity,
sparkling, carbonated and sweet dessert style.
Examples of fruit wines:
• Strawberry: dry, off-dry, dessert, iced, sparkling.
• Rhubarb: Base wine, dry, off-dry.
• Wild Black Cherry Wine (Chokecherry): dessert, off-dry.
• Cherry: dry, off-dry, dessert.
• Raspberry: dry, dessert, fortified.
• Black Currant: dry, off-dry, dessert, fortified, sparkling.
• Blueberry: dry, off-dry, sweet, sparkling.
• Apple: dry, off-dry, dessert, iced, fortified.
Fruit Wine Economics
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBODWrG
PMXw “How to make Ice-style apple & fruit
wine” Dr. Joseph Fiola, Maryland Extension.
• 5 bushels of apples/ 220 lbs. @ $0.10/lbs.
• 18 gallons @ 15 Brix
• Freeze to 8 gallons @ 28 Brix, about 7 gallons
of “cryogenic apple wine”
• Value added: 70 half bottles @ $15 = $1,050
• From $22 worth of apples.
Neige Apple Ice Wine
• Another Utube find, Quebec, owned by
Boisset family of France.
• Ice wine, frozen on the tree, yield 15%
• Value $40+ per half bottle.
• Cryogenic wine, frozen juice concentrated,
yield 20%
• Value $28 per half bottle.
• Neige means “snow” in French.
Apple wine experiment
• To see how a yeast affect Apple wine flavor.
• Scott labs yeast: 71B and
• Ag Center apples (82 pounds, including
approx. 30 lbs. crab*) were frozen, thawed
and pressed, then SO2
• Nutrient added
• Measured SO2, pH and T.A.
25 Liter Bladder press
Juice Statistics
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5.5 gallons juice
13.4 Brix, pH 3.40, TA 0.41
Adjusted to 22.5 Brix with 122g/L Sugar
Stir and divide into 3 buckets
Add rehydrated Cotes des Blanc yeast and later
Fermaid nutrient.
• A: zero added Tannin
• B: 50ppm FT Blanc Soft
• C: 100ppm FT Blanc Soft
Fermentation and finish
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15 day fermentation
Nutrient DAP ½ teaspoon/gallon day 5 & 7.
Racked twice and add Bentonite clay.
Racked and add Hot Sparkaloid.
Racked and added SO2 and 1/2g/L citric acid.
Bottled 12.5% alcohol and Zero residual sugar
Which tastes the sweetest?
Which do you prefer?
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