Joy of Home Wine Making (15 page)

San Francisco Bay Area gardeners curse the blackberry. The thorny vines seem to grow even through concrete. Legend has it that blackberries were planted widely during World War Two in Victory Gardens, and they got away: a thorny victory.

All up and down the West Coast you can find huge clumps of plump, rich blackberries guarded by dense thorns, free for the picking and flesh wounds. Always be sure to pick wild berries away from roads and industrial areas. (Alas, those are blackberry vines’ favorite hangouts.)

3¾ quarts water

2¼ lbs. sugar or 2½ lbs. mild honey

3-4 lbs. fresh or frozen blackberries

2 tsp. acid blend

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet yeast

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.

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. (You might want to wear clean rubber gloves to avoid staining your skin.)

Pour the hot sugar water over the crushed berries. 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 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, merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

Check the PA and write it down.

Twenty-four hours later, add the 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 above 3 to 4 percent, give it another week or so, then rack the wine into your glass secondary fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

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

In four to six months, check the PA. Taste it, too. 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 at room temperature.

NOTE: Follow this recipe for Marionberries, loganberries, and any other blackberry-like bramble berry.

SAL’S BLUEBERRY WINE

Remember that children’s book,
Blueberries for Sal
? I think of those illustrations every time I make this.

So let’s try that noble fruit, the blueberry. Obviously, if you can get wild blueberries, do so! However MAKE SURE THEY ARE ACTUALLY BLUEBERRIES! Sometimes you can get wild blueberries frozen.

Tame blueberries make a fine wine, as well. I like the ones that come from Oregon and Washington the best. They seem to have more flavor. If you can get fresh local blueberries, do so.

3¾ quarts water

2½ lbs. sugar or 3 lbs. mild honey

2-3 lbs. fresh or frozen blueberries

2 tsp. acid blend

¹
/
₈
tsp. tannin

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet yeast

Put the water mixed with the sugar or honey on to boil. Pick over the berries carefully. Watch for mold. Discard anything that looks odd. Wash the berries in cool water and drain.

Put the berries in a nylon straining bag and into the primary fermenter, then squish them with your clean hands or a sanitized potato masher. You have to be sure to press them well before you pour the hot water over them. Don’t be chagrined by the sickly green color that comes out before you add the hot water. (This makes a good “magic” trick to surprise a child with.) If you cut a fresh blueberry in half with a knife, you’ll frequently find that it’s green inside. Heat and pressure release the wonderful red/blue that is more familiar.

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. 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 two
weeks, remove the bag (don’t squeeze). After the sediment has settled down again, rack the wine into your glass fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack the wine 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. Taste it. When you bottle this one, you might want to sweeten it. Use stabilizer, and add 2-6 ounces of sugar boiled in water. Keep it for a year before drinking, if you can. This is one of those wines that is hard to resist when you want to introduce friends to homemade wines. It has a lovely fragrance and looks like a light red grape wine in the glass. Serve at room temperature or lightly chilled.

In Part Three I’ll show you a few ways of dolling this one up. But for now, you might want to add a little more sugar to start with to make a wine that is slightly higher in alcohol, or use another half pound of berries for a richer, stronger wine. Watch the PA so you don’t end up with something too sweet.

DENNY’S PIE CHERRY WINE

No, this doesn’t have little crumbs of pastry in it. Pie cherries are the sour cherries in pies. You almost never see them in the stores, because they aren’t usually eaten raw like sweet cherries.

If you live in a temperate or northern area, check out the local fruit farms to see if you can get these fresh. They usually ripen around July, and the season is short. Otherwise, you might luck out in the frozen fruit section of fancier grocery stores. If all else fails, see the section (Grocery Store Canned Fruits) on canned fruits. Pie cherries are worth any trouble you have to go to to get them; they make a superb wine.

I can never decide if this wine is a dark rosé or a light red, but I don’t care!

3¾ quarts water

2½ lbs. sugar or 3 lbs. mild honey

3 lbs. fresh or frozen pie cherries

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

¹
/
₈
tsp. tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet yeast

Put the water and sugar or honey on the stove to boil.

Pick over the cherries carefully. Watch for mold. Discard any bad ones. Stem. You don’t have to pit these if you are careful not to break the pits when you squish them. Broken pits will make the wine bitter. Cherry pits are very sturdy, though. Wash the cherries in cool water and drain.

Put the cherries in a nylon straining bag and into the primary fermenter, then squish with your clean hands. They are a firm fruit, so do a good job. Don’t they smell wonderful?

Pour the hot sugar water over the crushed cherries. 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 in now to bring the temperature down quickly. Add the yeast nutrient and tannin, 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. Be prepared for a lot of foam. Stir down daily. After two weeks, remove the bag (don’t squeeze). After the sediment has settled down again, rack the wine into your glass fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack the wine once or twice during secondary fermentation. Be sure to keep it in a dark jug, or put a piece of cloth around it to keep out light.