The juice of fruit harvested at 12-13 Brix (analytically equivalent to 1.3 ounces of sugar per liter) will need to be elevated to 18-21 Brix to make wine with a mere 10 percent alcohol (11-to-14 percent alcohol are conventional levels for table wines). The higher levels of alcohol that this leads to makes the wines more palatable, more durable and more intoxicating.
Ordinary sugar, sucrose, is widely used for this purpose. This is feasible because the high acids of these juices will transform sucrose into the simpler sugars, glucose and fructose, which are fermentable. Most fruits' high natural acidity requires that their juice be diluted with water to produce palatable wines. This introduces the risk that the character of such juices will be needlessly diluted too. A further problem for fruit wines' production is the absence in fruit juice of nutrients required by yeasts. This condition is addressed most often by the addition of commercially available preparations of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, which are added to the fruit juices prior to fermentation.
Significantly, fruit wines seldom improve with bottle age, whereas wines made of grapes often do. While grape wines will develop considerable subtlety of aroma with time in bottle, the aromas and flavors of fruit wines tend to fade, thus recommending their early consumption. Another chief difference between fruit wines and wines as such is that fruit wines require the presence of some residual sugar to sustain their flavors. Most often, fruit wines' sweetness is adjusted after the completion of fermentation.
Given fruit wines' high acidity, their sweetness may not be readily apparent, although most fruit wines are obviously sweet. Certainly, there is a philosophical divide between winemakers who craft drier-styled fruit wines, whose appeal must depend more on the subtlety and thrust of flavor of the base fruit juice itself, and those who produce obviously sweet wines to appeal to tasters who prefer sweet beverages.
The Wineries
* Glenhaven Farm, 6121 Sirrine Road, Trumansburg, NY 14886; www.glenhavenfarm.com, organized in 1979, is coextensive with a 50 acre farm established in Hector in Schuyler County in 1872. Owner John Tamburello and his family first produced fruit to sell at the farm and at the Ithaca Farmer's Market, also opening the blueberry plantations to u-pickers. U-pick activity remains a key component of the farm's operation, but from the start Tamburello envisioned producing fruit wines from his blueberries and other locally available fruits. He received licenses to establish a farm winery in 2001, and made an initial blueberry wine the next season. In the ensuing two years, Tamburello has added other fruit and grape wines.
* Goose Watch Winery, 5480 Rt. 89, Romulus, NY 14541; 315-549-2599; www.goosewatch.com, emphasizes types of wines little grown elsewhere in the Finger Lakes. These include innovative Vitis vinifera varieties such as Viognier and Lemberger, interesting European-American hybrids such as Traminette and Chambourcin, and fruit wines made of strawberries and pears.
* Hosmer Winery, 6999 Rt. 89, Ovid, NY 14521; 607-869-3393; www.hosmerwinery.com, created by Cameron and Maren Hosmer in 1985 in a location adjacent to the west shore of Cayuga Lake, grows grapes for its own use and to sell to other wineries. Hosmer makes many different wines from vinifera and hybrid grapes, including Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, Cayuga, and Cabernet Franc. Hosmer also make a fast-selling fruit wine from raspberries, called Raspberry Rhapsody, and an extravagantly luscious royale.
* Swedish Hill Vineyard, 4565 Rt. 414, Romulus, NY 14541; 315-549-8326; www.swedishhill.com, owned by the Peterson family, lies in an intermediate location near both Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, produces a full range of table wines, sparkling wines, port and fruit wines.
The Sample of Wines
"Table Wine" as an identifier on labels of wines grown in the U.S. designates wines whose alcohol levels lie in the range 11-to-14 percent by volume.
* Glenhaven Farm Finger Lakes Table Wine Cherry NV, 0.75 l., $15: (tank sample of the 2004 batch) Pale red-yellow in color; clear cherry scent.; palate tingly then tart and lightly sweet. Notably young and promising, this wine is made of Napolean cherries.
* Glenhaven Farm Finger Lakes Table Wine Blackberry NV, 0.75 l., $15: Deep purple color; doughy nose, with blackberry pie aromas; palate tart, briary, fruity and drier than the nose suggests.
* Glenhaven Farm Finger Lakes Table Wine Blueberry NV, 0.75 l., $15: (n.b. This example was exclusively from blueberries grown in 2002, and fermented exclusively by carbonic maceration.) Pretty, pale orange/purple/red; nose faint, vaguely vinous; palate shows a tart, light yet assertive flavor of blueberry, with nuances of toasted bread and an elusive sweetness.
* Glenhaven Farm Finger Lakes Table Wine Blueberry NV, 0.75 l., $15: (tank sample of the 2004 batch; partially carbonic maceration fermented) Deeper purple color than the '02; nose again faint; palate is very tangy and zesty, delicate in flavor, with an appealing upward thrust of flavor in the middle.
* Goose Watch Winery New York Fruit-Table Wine Bartlett Pear NV, 0.75 l., $10.49: Pale golden yellow; piquant scent of pear; palate moderately sweet with well defined Bartlett pear flavor in a low acid style.
* Hosmer Winery Finger Lakes Table Wine "Raspberry Rhapsody" NV, 0.75 l., $10: Bright transparent pink-red; clear raspberry scent; palate moderately sweet, nearly creamy in texture (a little crisp nevertheless), with a delicious raspberry flavor.
* Swedish Hill Vineyard Finger Lakes Table Wine "Radical Raspberry" NV, 0.75 l., $9: Deep purple color; heavy, grapey scent- a very ripe nose of fruit jam; palate thick textured and sweet with a raspberry-cherry liqueur quality.
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