Frambrosia
Oregon Raspberry Wine
WHAT IS FRAMBROSIA?
Oregon's Willamette Valley grows some of the world's finest red
raspberries. While the Oregon wine industry is largely known for
its high quality Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, it is by no means
limited to those esteemed varietal wines.
Besides its reputation for fine dry table wines, Oak Knoll
Winery has established itself as one of the premier producers of
pure, superior quality raspberry wine in the United States, if
not the world. With a reliable source of excellent Oregon red
raspberries, and thirty years of winemaking experience, this wine
has consistently ranked as one of the highest rated and most
sought-after "dessert style" wines in North America.
The key element to the success of this unique wine is its
precise sugar/acid balance. Many fruit or berry wines are simply
too sweet. The excessive sweetness is cloying and masks the
wine's true fruit flavors. When there is just enough sweetness to
balance the naturally high acidity found in raspberries, you
achieve that wonderful smell and taste of fresh picked
raspberries, as if you picked them right off the vine and popped
them into your mouth.
Frambrosia Oregon Raspberry wine takes the category of "berry
wine" to a new height. Fine wine shops and restaurants seek out
this wine for its pure, concentrated depth of flavor, and its
ability to match exquisitely with a wide range of desserts. As an
alternative to late harvest wine, port, or sherry -- Frambrosia
is a delight to anyone who enjoys the true essence of this
marvelous fruit.
TECHNICAL DATA
Alcohol:13%
T.A.: 12.5g/L
RS: 9%
HOW WE MAKE IT
Nearly one pound of fruit is used for each half bottle. Whole
red raspberries are frozen then thawed (this breaks down the
berry's cell structure and helps release the juice) then pumped
into a membrane press. After gentle pressing, the juice is cool
fermented at 60 degrees F. to dryness.
Unlike grapes which have sugars and acids in the right
proportions for winemaking when harvested, raspberries are much
higher in acid (almost double) and much lower in sugar (about
half). For the finished wine to be balanced, water must be added
during fermentation to cut the high natural acidity. Sugar must
also be added to augment the lower natural sugars and, in turn,
yield a wine with the desired alcohol of 13 % by volume. At this
alcohol level, the fruit flavors are accentuated and there is no
perception of alcohol "warmth". Sugar is then added a second
time, just prior to bottling, in order to achieve the precise
sugar/acid balance.
