Pinky is exactly right. Many people expect fruit wine to taste like the original fruit. But let me butture you that a good Cabernet does not taste or smell like the original fruit. However, with many country wines, if you stabilize and add a bit of sugar back after fermentation, a hint of the original fruit often returns. If you want your wines bone dry, this is no help.
Also, fruitiness in wines is generally stronger in young wines. Less than 2 years. After 2 years they mature and the fruitiness us usually gone.
Mead Wine receipeOn 4-13-2006 11:02 AM, Ray Calvert Ray, I think you'd find that 4 lbs of honey in a 1 gallon batch will be pretty close (by my guesstimate, at least) to wine...
Many country wines, much like many good white wines, will start declining after a period of time. For some country wines this period can be as short as one year. There is nothing sadder than making a good country wine and then aging it too long. My recommendation, especially when making a new country wine is to start drinking it at about 6 months but make enough to lbutt for 2 years. Keep notes on the taste so you can determine if it is one of the short ager's.
More to the point, if your wine really has some off smells, I have found that with many beginners, the most common cause of off smells is bottling it when it is not completely clear. It may seem clear but still have a slight, hard to detect haze. This can cause off smells in the bottle. You might try a more stringent fining program to be sure it is absolutely clear. Especially for my short age wines I like to hit them with SupperKlear shortly be fore bottling. This will take just about anything that will cause off smells out.
Ray
