So I made a grapefruit wine recently, using Ocean Spray 100% grapefruit juice, mostly because I am lazy and it was a test batch of about a gallon and a half.
The results were interesting. It is clear that ocean spray uses zest in their concentrate, and in taking the zest some pith clearly came with it. So my grapefruit wine is bitter, pithy bitter.
However, when one eats grapefruit, or at least if they eat slices of grapefruit, the aftertaste of pith is a normal and usual part of the experience, and for many people grape fruit is an acquired taste.
Well, my grapefruit wine after having let it sit for a while, it still has the bitterness, but it's not the rocket fuel / fusel taste, it's pithy. Although I don't think it's a wine I would serve a guest who really isn't ready for it, I think the wine gives one to appreciate the grapefruit for what it is. Part of the whole grape fruit experience. I was thinking of bottling it in splits (to keep the serving size down) and using it as a digestif or serving it with hors d'vours that compliment the flavor.
It's a wine I have come to appreciate even though it's bitterness makes it less palatable, but whether I like it or not, I appreciate how it represents the fruit very well.
I am considering making another batch, but from fruit and only using the supreme part of the fruit (supremes being slices cut away from all skins) to see if I can make a more palatable wine that would appeal to a larger audience that what I produced with ocean spray.
What are your experiences with a grapefruit wine and have your tried from bottled juice and/or fruit?
