Making Wine from Stone Fruit: Tips from the Pros

Stone fruits (those with pits like cherries, peaches, plums, etc.) are generally off-dry to sweet wines that are easy to enjoy on a warm summer evening. Two pros share advice on making your own version at home. Winemaker: Lewis Eaton,  Sweet Baby Vineyard, in Hampstead, New Hampshire We make two peach wines — our White Peach is back-sweetened to 4.5% (45 g/L residual sugar), and our dessert wine Baby’s Blush, is a 50/50 with peaches and Léon Millot, is back-sweetened to 9.5% residual sugar (95 g/L). We use a New Hampshire-grown blend of white and yellow peaches. Since they are grown in a cold climate with a short growing season, they tend to be a bit more acidic than the warmer climate varieties. The higher acidity keeps the wine from being flabby or cloying, and closer to a traditional white wine. They are harvested at the very end of the season when the Brix comes in higher and acidity is at a point that is very manageable. The higher the Brix, the less sugar we have to add to get