Joy of Home Wine Making (13 page)

Let’s start with a wine that will run you through the basic steps of making a fresh fruit wine. Remember to read the recipe through, and to pay attention to sanitation. Tsp.=teaspoon, Tbls.=tablespoon, by the way. Use measuring spoons.

FURST RASPBERRY WINE

No, it’s not a typo. I have named this wine after the person who brought me that first bottle of homemade raspberry wine.

This is my favorite wine, bar none. I make some every year and guard it jealously. It is served only to special guests, and given away only to people I really like and respect. Made well, this wine is fragrant, subtle, dry, and goes with anything except heavy tomato and meat dishes.

It tastes of the fruit, but not overwhelmingly so. Put all thoughts of raspberry soda far from your mind and think of tart, warm berries picked in a lightly shaded meadow by a running stream. Chill it slightly, and sip. There, you see?

Raspberries are expensive. I usually go to a pick-your-own place and suffer mosquitoes and heat rash for this wine. I want perfect, flavorful, fresh berries. To heck with the scars. Then I drive home
as fast as I legally can and start the wine ASAP. Raspberries will start to mold within hours of picking.

It is true that sometimes I make a second batch with frozen berries from the store if my fresh berry supply hasn’t let me make the amount I want. Some raspberry wine is better than none, and more raspberry wine is better than a little.

For the El Primo stuff I use only the best. Wild raspberries, especially wild black raspberries, would probably kick me up into raspberry heaven.

I use sugar when I make this wine. Honey is OK, but to me it mars the taste. Other people might like it just fine, or even better.

3¾ quarts water

2¼ lbs. sugar or 2½ lbs. mild honey

3-4 lbs. fresh or frozen raspberries

½ tsp. acid blend

¹
/
₈
tsp. tannin

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet or champagne wine yeast

Wash your hands. Put the water mixed with the sugar or honey on the stove to boil. Pick over the berries carefully, discarding any that are not up to par. Rinse lightly. Put the berries into a nylon straining bag and tie the top tightly.

Wash your hands again, rinsing especially well, and put the bag of fruit into the bottom of your primary fermenter and crush the berries within the bag. You can use a sanitized potato masher if you prefer, but hands are the best (besides, they are easy to clean).

Now pour the hot sugar water over the crushed berries. This sets the color. If you prefer, you can chill and reserve half the water beforehand; if you’ve done so, you can pour it now to bring the temperature down quickly in the primary fermenter. Add the acid, tannin, and yeast nutrient. Cover and fit with an air lock. Wait till the temperature comes down to add the Campden tablet if you use it. Twelve hours after the Campden tablet, add the pectic enzyme. If you don’t use the tablet, then merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

After you add the pectic enzyme, check the PA and write it down. Remember, you can always sweeten later. Put the lid on
the primary fermenter and install a rubber bung fitted with an air lock. Make sure the lid is on firmly.

Another twelve hours later, add your yeast simply by sprinkling it on the top of the must (unfermented fruit and sugar water). Don’t stir it in. You want the fermentation to start right away. If you scatter the yeast, it will take too long for it to get going.

Once the fermentation gets going, sanitize a large plastic spoon or spatula and carefully stir the contents of the primary fermenter once a day, being careful to maintain the cleanliness of the fermenter lid when you remove and replace it. Be sure the air lock still contains the proper amount of liquid.

After the first excitement of the yeast is over (it takes about one week for all the froth and bubbling to die down to a quiet but obvious activity), remove the bag (don’t squeeze). After the sediment has settled down again, check the PA. If it is still above 3 to 4 percent, let the wine ferment for another week, stirring daily, and then rack it into your glass fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack it at least once during secondary fermentation. You don’t want any off flavors. Be sure to keep it in a dark jug, or put something over it to keep the light from stealing the color.

In four to six months, check the PA again. Taste the wine. I like it dry, but you might want to sweeten it. Not too much! Add some stabilizer and 2 to 4 ounces of sugar dissolved in water. Bottle, label, let it rest a year, then open and enjoy it. Serve lightly chilled.

OK, so now you get the basic idea. There are a lot of different kinds of fruit out there. Mostly what is going to change is how you process the fruit, the acid content, and the sugar. There are also some small differences in handling the fruit here and there.

NOTE: If you have black raspberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries, or any other raspberry-like wild berry use this recipe. The color will be darker or lighter, depending on the berries. You can also use a mixture of these berries.

RICH APPLE WINE

You might use this wine as a base wine with other flavorings in the future. It’s endlessly useful and inexpensive. This is really just a fancier version of the simple apple wine from the first section.

water to make up the gallon, as needed

2 lbs. sugar or 2¼ lbs. mild honey

8 lbs. crushed or chopped apples or 24 oz. frozen apple concentrate

1 tsp. acid blend (only ½ tsp. if you have tart apples)

¼ tsp tannin

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

1 packet champagne wine yeast

Put the water mixed with the sugar or honey on the stove to boil. If you are using crushed or chopped fruit, process it as quickly as possible, stirring in the crushed Campden tablet. Tart apples mixed with sweeter apples are better than using all sweet dessert apples. Peels are OK, but it’s best to get rid of the seeds if you can. Put the crushed or chopped fruit into a nylon straining bag and put it in the bottom of your primary fermenter.

Now pour the hot sugar water over the apples or the frozen apple juice in the primary fermenter. If you prefer, you can chill and reserve half the water beforehand; if you’ve done so, you can pour it now to bring the temperature down quickly. Add the acid, tannin, and yeast nutrient, but wait till the temperature comes down to add the Campden tablet if you choose to. Cover and fit with an air lock. Twelve hours after the Campden tablet, add the pectic enzyme. If you don’t use the tablet, then merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

Check the PA and write it down.

Twenty-four hours later, add your yeast. Stir daily. After about one week, remove the bag (don’t squeeze). After the sediment has settled down again, check the PA. If it is still above 3 to 4 percent PA, let it ferment another week or so, then rack it into your glass fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack the wine at least twice during secondary fermentation.

In four to six months, check the PA to see if it has fermented out. Taste it, too. You might want to sweeten it. Add some stabilizer and 2 to 4 ounces of sugar dissolved in water. Bottle, label, let it rest a year, then open and enjoy it. Serve chilled.

NOTE: You can use this recipe for
crab apple
wine, but use only half the amount of apples, and skip the acid blend, unless they are remarkably sweet crab apples. In many areas, crab apples can be had for the asking, since many people plant them as ornamentals. The varieties with red skins will give you a nice pink color. The teeny tiny ones can be used, too. Always wash the fruit carefully.