kiwi vs grape pergola & kiwi wine

Cafe Society
1

From wiki: “A pergola is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained.”

We got one at in front of house from ancient times. It is originally grape pergola with 7 clintons and 1 isabela. Father used to and still do make wine from grapes, but it is/was abysmal (only he drinks it).

He is aging and that pergola will sooner or later become my “hobby”. So there is current situation.

10 yo ago he experimentally planted two male and four female kiwi plants on each side of pergola. Kiwis went nuts and almost completely choked grapes on that pergola. Yield last year was about 100 kg of each, but this year looks like 150 to 50 kg in favor of kiwis.

I’m going to throw grapes out (if you do not convince me otherwise) and plant some more kiwis, as it looks like they like the climate and they make shadow about month longer than grape. And they are a lot less messier to pick up. But 200 kg of kiwis are a lot for fruit salad. So wine it will be. There are some recipes on the net, but since I’m no farmer I’ll try to go from the beginning.

Original plan is to make some kind of prison wine and then to see what happens. I was going to smash some 20 kg of ripe kiwis, add couple of kg of sugar and standard yeast cube. Put it in warm environment (boiler room) and wait for 14 days. Then filter it and offer it to my friends and enemies to see their facial expressions. Please, improve my recipe, if you can.

Do not need answer soon. Kiwi season here is in November.

2

Honestly, I understand why your dad’s wine in undrinkable. Sugar makes terrible tasting alcohol. I’d just mash the kiwis and either add a different fruit (apple) juice for the liquid and then add quality yeast (ec-1118 will give lots of fruit flavors and little yeast flavor). If you want just kiwi flavor I’d go with the mashed kiwis and possibly add a little sodium bicarbonate to increase the ph yeast don’t like it too acidic.

One more thing the only thing you get from hot ferments is more flavor from the yeast and not necessarily good flavor. If you’re making a new recipie the first thing I’d do is a cold ferment maybe at 65 degrees. Stick that juice in the coldest part of your cellar and let it take its time to ferment.

One last thing if you’re really hung up on using sugar at least use honey instead it has better flavor but it’s really hard to ferment. Look up cyser to get some basic recipes for fruit and honey wines.

3

Do you have a way to test the sugar content of the Kiwi juice? Grapes for wine are usually about 8-14% sugar content. If you’re in that range, why add sugar?

4

No, no, no. You are going to far. For now, I’ll just go and try to do something with limited, but clear, fresh and bio input that will make my wine “eco-hobbyist” (ok, sugar out). One step at the time. In time.

5

Sugar is fine for a fruit wine. No, it’s not going to have the nuances of a true wine made only from grapes, but non-grape fruit wines don’t really have those nuances anyway. Even top-end wineries supplement their grapes with sugar during poor seasons (and this is pretty much required for most vintners in the northeastern U.S.). Sugar gets a bad rap because of crap like prison wine, but it’s perfectly fine if you follow good procedures (like adding some nutrients).

Adding honey is fine, but it makes a very different tasting wine - it’s mead, to be exact. I think a kiwi-infused mead could be delicious, but it will not be mistaken for a clean, acidic wine.

The kiwis will definitely be well below the necessary sugar content to make wine without adding sugar. Even fruits that seem like they’d be high enough in sugar content, like strawberries or pears, need extra sugar added. You can make apple cider without added sugar, but you won’t reach 12-15% alcohol like a typical wine (unless there is some extremely sweet variety that I’m unaware of).

As for the OP, you can take your planned route, but it will be close to undrinkable. With just slightly more effort, you’ll have a much better chance of success. First, get some decent wine or champagne yeast. If there’s a local brewshop, they should have a good selection and can help you choose the best variety. If shopping online, I’d recommend Lalvin ICV-K1-V1116 Montpellier White Wine or Red Star Premier Cuvee.

The other things you’ll want to add are some pectic enzyme to break down pectins in the fruit, some yeast nutrient so it ferments cleanly without off-flavors, and maybe a little acid (Acid Blend is easiest). Kiwis might have enough natural acids, but I’m guessing you’ll need a little if you’re adding sugar. You can use pH strips if you want to be formal, taste the unfermented juice - it should have the slightest tang to it, or just follow a recipe for kiwi wine.

I can understand the reluctance to make a big deal over this, but you’re going to put a decent amount of effort into it by the time you press the kiwis, let it ferment, and bottle it. Taking a little more time to get the right ingredients is trivial and will make a huge difference. Trust me as someone who has made all these mistakes.

6

14 days?!

I’ve done a few “country” wines (made from gardening gluts or foraging), and none have been even close to drinkable until at least a few months after starting. I normally leave 'em for a year (which conveniently means you can drink last year’s while starting the next batch).

7

Yo han go will serve no wine after its time.

BTW, googling “kiwi fruit wine” gets lots of hits. I’d do some reading outside this MB…

8

My standard recipe for fruit wine is:

20 kg of fruit or berries (fruit should be cut in slices, not crushed).
25 kg of sugar
Water to a total volume of 100 l.
Yeast cube.

Ferment for 4 to 6 weeks before you remove the fruit. Adjust the volume to 100 l by adding water, and continue fermentation until it runs out of sugar (another 2 - 3 weeks).

I’ve never tried kiwi, but it works fine for blueberries, apples, gooseberries and blackcurrants. You might want to add some lemons if your fruit lacks acidity.