South Wedge Winery 2011 Apple Wine Review

It is cloudy, but quite a bit lighter in color than the cider that the initial cider.

The aroma isn't terribly enticing as it smells somewhat yeasty. There is only a mild apple smell. It has remarkably little flavor. Some fruit and apple flavor, but way less than I expected. Its actually kind of remarkable how little apple flavor there is. There isn't too much yeasty flavor, though its hard to get away from it since the smell is so strong. The wine benefits tremendously from an open-air rest as much of the yeasty aroma/flavor disappears. The sugar is almost entirely gone, and without the sweetness to mask it, there is a surprising amount of acidity.

I'd have to give this a 4 out of 10. Its certainly consumable, but not exactly good. I would probably only buy it if it was in the bargain bin.

There are a couple things wrong with the wine. The first is the yeastiness. I have no doubt that if allowed it to go through a secondary fermentation and fully settle and clarify, the yeastiness would be gone. In fact, it seemed to improve significantly between the day after fermentation stopped (my first taste) and 4 days later (when I'm writing this review). The yeastiness is probably going to be a fundamental problem with the quick and dirty ferment it in the jug method. The second thing that is wrong is the lack of apple flavor. Its kind of amazing how little it tastes like apple anymore. I think if I had used a yeast that got impaired at lower alcohol levels, it would have ended with some more apple flavor and a little bit of sweetness to balance the acidity. Just a hint of sugar, though. I still maintain that all commercial hard ciders I've drank have been too sweet.