winees a balanced flavour whicch is reminiscent of

Hasskap Wines
W at
a the grappe wines.

U off S Fru
uit Pro
ogram A deeep burgundyy color is also a trademark w wine
Peterr Reimer attribbute which H
Haskap shares with Grapes..
Conssumers associate this colorr with richnesss,
A small but serious fru uit wine indusstry is flavoour, and age ffighting phytoochemicals likke
beginning g to emerge in n Saskatchewaan. This is resveeratrol. Haskkap has this coolor in abunddance.
due, in paart, to recent legislation whhich aims to But w while intensee, this color iss not inky, a trrait
nurture suuccessful grap pe, and non-grrape, cottage whicch some hardyy wine grapess are known tto
wineries. These wineries are drivin ng a search displlay. We’ve aalso noticed thhat after Haskkap
for fruit which
w is reliab
bly productivee, and hardy, juicee is fermentedd, the color mmaintains its
while resu ulting in a quaality fermenteed product. burggundy color, eeven when dilluted. Fresh
Some of Saskatchewan
S n’s fruit wine makers have Haskkap juice fadees to a bluish hue when dilluted.
discovered Haskap, and are beginnin ng to see the
full potenntial of the fruuit. Haskap is a fruit which
has rich color, is full off flavour, andd depending
on the reccipe, could be adapted for both
b fruit
wine and dry table win ne markets. Some
S tasters
have even n gone as far as a to say the wine
w made
from Hask kap has a flav vour comparaable to grape
wines likee Cabernet Saauvignon.

Haskap iss an edible forrm of Blue Ho oneysuckle.

The fruit is
i prized in Jaapan, where is used in a
variety off candies and other productts, including
wine.

Haskap haas been referrred to by winee makers as

the closesst thing to grapes currently growing in
zone 2. This
T is due to the neutral flaavour of Figurre 1: Haskap len
nds an intense ccolor to a wine..
Haskap. Neutral
N flavour is importan nt when
considerin ng wines inten nded for the table.
t As Haskkap berries arre also convennient fruit to jjuice.
most peop ple who have tasted a Merllot, or Pinot The fruit is relativvely soft and the liquid is
Noir grape know, a goo od wine grapee doesn’t sepaarated from thhe pulp quite eeasily, especially
possess an ny overwhelm mingly domin nant flavour. afterr it has been ffrozen and thaawed.
Their flavvour is reminiscent of a num mber of otherr
Yeassts
fruits, butt no flavour iss particularly dominant or
overpoweering. If a win ne grape tastees “grapey”, The type of yeastt used to ferm ment the wine
it would be
b called “fox xy”, an off flaavour as far ass channges the persoonality or chaaracter of a wiine.
wine is cooncerned. A neutral
n flavou
ur allows Win emakers know w that pairingg the right yeaast
wine to bee enjoyed witth a meal, ofteen withh the right fruiit or grape typpe can mean tthe
complimeenting, not ov verpowering th he flavour of diffeerence betweeen a passable wine and a reeally
the food. This
T neutral flavour
f gives Haskap goodd one. Yeast will influencee which flavoours
are eexpressed andd accentuated and which arre
muted. Yeasts even determine variables like the
rate of fermentation, the final alcohol level, and
even the color of the finished product. Haskap yeasts?

Yeasts are generally categorized into which We created a little experiment to help us find the
grapes or wine styles they compliment the most. right yeasts for the job. We mixed a 6 gallon
batch of must, and added everything except for
Red wine yeasts: These yeasts are generally the yeast. We split the must up into 6 individual
good at increasing mouthfeel (polysaccharides). 1 gallon batches and pitched each with different
They also must not inhibit malolactic yeast. The yeasts were chosen for us by a wine
fermentation. supply company in Ontario as yeast which might
work well for fruit wines.
White wine yeasts: Generally good at elevating
volatile terpenes and aromatics. (smells like The chart below plots sugar levels in the wine
pear, or citrus) vs. date. The lines which drop rapidly before
becoming nearly horizontal are the plots of fast
Fruit wine yeasts: Yeasts specifically selected fermenters. These would work well as killer
for use in fruit wines are relatively rare. Usually yeasts, overpowering any naturally occurring
grape wine yeasts are selected based on yeasts, and for high alcohol fermentations.
fermentation characteristics which are thought to However, the faster fermenters usually generate
compliment the flavour of the fruit in question. more heat, which can influence more delicate
Popular fruit wine yeasts are often acid reducing fruity flavours. Slower fermenting yeasts are
and are selected to bring out fruity aromatics. known to generally maintain the more delicate
flavours.
 13
Sugar Content vs. Time

12

11

Lalvin 71B
Brix 10 Zymaflore VL2
W15
Lalvin V1116
9
Laffort F33
Zymaflore VL1
8

7
24/04/2010 28/04/2010 02/05/2010 06/05/2010 10/05/2010

After taste testing, we found that the slower makers, reviewers, and growers from eastern
fermenting yeasts tested above average. Fruity wine making regions. They suggest that some
aromas and cherry flavours were more suitable wine styles for Haskap might include
prominent in the wines made with slower table wines, social wines, and ports.
fermenting yeasts. We also found that the faster
fermenting yeasts were considered more grape Table wines are typically drier wines, and are
wine-like than the slower fermenters. meant to compliment meals. To make this sort
of wine you would want to add just enough
Haskap Wine styles sugar to have the wine ferment to dryness. A
little bit of sugar left over works well to counter
Grape wines are usually separated into their the acid. Oak and Tannin are two common
grape cultivars, or regions where they’re grown. additives in this style wine.
But within these designations also exist different
ways of making wine from these grapes. These
include social wines, table wines, apertifs,
digestifs and ports. The flavour of Haskap
lends itself to a number of these wine styles. At
a Vitinord Northern Winemaking conference we
made a number of connections with wine
 Instrructions:

The first step wheenever you’ree about to makke

any ssort of wine iis sanitation. Sanitize at evvery
step,, whenever poossible. Bottlles and equipm ment
shouuld be cleanedd and sulphiteed. Most winne kit
storees sell a pink chlorinated ccleanser that ccleans
gunkk off equipmeent and the insides of bottlees
veryy well.

Now w that the equiipment is cleaan, crush the fruit.

Som me people preffer to crush thhe fruit in the same
Figure 2: A dry 'table wine' style Haskap
p wine conttainer they usee for fermentaation. Anothher
methhod would bee to crush the fruit in a nyloon
Social wines have a sw weeter, more balanced
b
bag, leaving the bbag in the must for the firstt
flavour, and are meant to be consum med on their
fermmentation stepp. This saves some additional
own. Forr this style winne, you wouldd want to add
d
filterring later on. Leaving the fruit in the mmust
enough suugar to leave a slightly palaatable
for thhe first steps of fermentatiion is referredd to as
sweetnesss, or stop the fermentation
f before it
maceeration. Maccerating gives the wine more
continues to dryness. Good
G yeasts for
f this style
conttact time withh the fruit pulpp and skins wwhich
wine incluude slower fermenters likee Laffort
allowws greater exttraction of annti-oxidants, ccolor
F33, W15 5, and Zymafllore VL1.
and fflavour.
Ports are usually fortiffied and sweeet, and often
To thhe fruit add thhe rest of youur ingredients.
served as dessert winess. This style wine
w requiress
Depeending on thee style you’re trying to achhieve,
the continnuous dosing with
w sugar. GoodG yeasts
this iis where you’’d add your taannins and othher
for this sty
yle include hiigh alcohol to
olerant strainss
addittives. Leave the must unccovered for at least
like EC11 118, Lalleman nd 43, V1116, and W15.
6 houurs after addiing the sulphiite before addding
See for yo ke your own Haskap
ourself. Mak the yyeast. Most w wine yeasts arre sulphite
Wine! resisstant, but not at high conceentrations.

This is a simple
s recipe that worked for us. Afteer about a weeek, the liquid can be separaated
These are by no meanss hard and fast rules. Havee fromm the pulp andd added to a gglass or food ggrade
fun and exxperiment, an
nd by all meanns let us stainnless vessel. TThis is when oak should be
know whaat you find. addeed, again, if thhis suits the sttyle. Let stannd for
at leaast 1 month. Filter and boottle.
Ingredients:
For mmore informaation about Haskap and othher
 6k
kg Haskap cropps go to: www
w.fruit.usask.cca
 4k
kg sugar
 Water
W to 5gallo
ons
 Yeast
Y Nutrientt
 Potassium Mettabisulphate
 Wine
W Tannin(ssomething lik ke Tannin
Plus works besst)
 30
0-40g Oak ch hips