Joy of Home Wine Making (29 page)

I’m including this recipe on the general principle that someone somewhere might want to try it, though I personally feel that fresh or frozen apples and pears yield a superior result. But you never know, there might be no better use for an attic full of dried apples, or pears, so here we go.

1 gallon water, plus extra for soaking if you are using sulfured fruit

3 lbs. dried apples and/or pears

2½ lbs. sugar or 3 lbs. light honey

1 gallon water

2 tsp. acid blend

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

no tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet champagne yeast

Rinse and soak the fruit overnight. Discard the soaking water if you used sulfured fruit. Put the water and sugar and honey on to boil. Chop the fruit finely, discarding any stems or pips. Put the fruit in a nylon straining bag and place it in the bottom of your primary fermenter.

Pour the hot water and sugar and honey over the fruit. Cool to tepid, add the acid and yeast nutrient, and add the crushed Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. Cover and fit with an air lock. After twelve hours, add the pectic enzyme. Check the PA.

Twenty-four hours later, add the yeast. Stir daily.

Ferment on the fruit for a week, stirring daily. When the PA is 2 to 3 percent, lift out the bag and drain, but don’t squeeze. Discard the fruit. When the wine settles again, rack it into a glass secondary fermenter and bung and fit with an air lock. Let it go on fermenting for three to six months, racking once or twice. When fermented out dry, taste it and decide if you want to sweeten it a bit. If so, stabilize and bottle it. Keep it for a year before sampling.

NOTE: I’ve never tried this with mixed apples and pears, but I bet it would be very nice.

LATE KING TUT DATE WINE

I mostly like to eat dates or cook with them, but they make an acceptable wine, too. You don’t have to pit them, nor do you have to soak them. They are very high in sugar, although low on flavor. If you make this wine with honey, you can dream perhaps of the ancient Egyptians making this wine and drinking it under the palms on a moonlit night. Or not.

1 gallon water

3-4 lbs. dates

2½ lbs. sugar or 3 lbs. light honey

2 tsp. acid blend

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

¹
/
₈
tsp. grape tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet champagne yeast

Boil the water and sugar or honey, and skim if necessary.

Rinse the fruit. Put the fruit in a nylon straining bag, squashing the dates a bit with your very clean fingers to loosen them up and break the skins; put the bag into the bottom of your primary fermenter. Pour the hot sugar water over the fruit.

Cool to tepid, add acid, tannin, yeast nutrient, and the Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. 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. Twenty-four hours later, add the yeast. Cover. Ferment on the fruit for a week, stirring daily. When the PA is 2 to 3 percent, lift out the bag and drain it, but don’t squeeze. When the wine settles again, rack it out into a glass secondary fermenter, bung, and fit with an air lock. Let it go on fermenting for three to six months, racking it again once or twice. When the wine is fermented out dry, taste it, and decide if you want to sweeten it a bit. If so, stabilize and bottle it. Keep for six months to a year before trying. Aw, go ahead and think of moonlight and palms while you’re at it.

WENDY ROSE HIP WINE

I’m naming this after my favorite poet, Wendy Rose, who’s pretty hip. If you have access to fresh rose hips, use them!

1 gallon water

¹
/
₃
-½ lb. dried rose hips or 2 lbs. fresh, unsprayed

2½ lbs. sugar or 3 lbs. light honey

1 tsp. acid blend or juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

no tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet yeast

Rinse the dried rose hips under cool running water in a sieve. Check for and remove any pebbles, twigs, etc. Soak overnight and drain the rose hips. Put them in a nylon straining bag in a primary fermenter. Mash them lightly with your clean hands or a sanitized spoon.

If you are using fresh rose hips, rinse them under cool water, checking for insects. Put them in a blender and coarsely chop them before you place them in the bag. It is not necessary to soak them overnight.

Boil the water with the sugar or honey, and skim. Pour over the hips. When tepid, add acid, yeast nutrient, and the Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. 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.

Twenty-four hours later, add the yeast, cover, and let it ferment, stirring daily—mashing the nylon bag. When the PA goes down to 2 to 3 percent, remove the bag and squeeze it using sanitized plastic gloves. Discard the fruit. Rack the wine into a glass secondary container. Bung and fit with an air lock. During the next three to six months, rack the wine again. When the wine ferments out dry, stabilize it and sweeten, then bottle it. This wine is best sweetened, as it is better as a social wine. Serve chilled.

DRIED BANANA WINE

Dry your own or get them at the wine supply store. They might have flakes instead of chips, but that’s OK. A lot of us are more flaky than chipper…

1 gallon water

1 lb. golden raisins

½ lb. dried bananas

2 lbs. sugar or 2½ lbs. light honey

3 tsp. acid blend or juice of 3 lemons

¼ tsp. tannin

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet yeast