Joy of Home Wine Making (42 page)

We did. It was a big hit. I didn’t quite duplicate the punch, but no one minded. We can always make punch.

ReinConation Citrus Melomel is light, crisp, almost effervescent. A delicious summer wine, it’s fine to serve with appetizers as well as with a meal. Serve chilled.

4-8 ozs. fresh ginger, sliced and simmered in two cups of water

12 bruised peppercorns

zest of 2-4 good oranges

10 lbs. rich but light-colored honey

sufficient water to make up the five gallons

1 12 oz. can lemonade

3 12 oz. cans limeade

1 12 oz. can orange juice

NO ACID!!

2½ tsps. pectic enzyme

5 tsps. yeast nutrient

1 tsp. tannin

5 Campden tablets, crushed (optional)

1 packet champagne yeast

Simmer the ginger for at least two hours, adding the peppercorns and the zest toward the end. Boil the honey with a couple of gallons of the water (you might want to do this in two batches). Skim, if necessary. (Local honeys tend to have a few bee parts here and there.) Reserve the orange juice to make up the starter for the yeast.

This is a one-stage fermentation, so start with a glass carboy.

Strain the now-thawed juices into the carboy. Strain the ginger-pepper-orange liquid into the carboy, and then the somewhat cooled honey water. DON’T pour this in hot—you could crack the carboy!

Add some cool water. Leave a little more room than usual, in case you get a lot of froth. You can top it up later.

Add everything but the pectic enzyme and the yeast. Cover with plastic and a rubber band. Wait till the temperature drops to below 90°F, and add the Campden tablets, if you choose to use them. Twelve hours after the Campden tablets, add the pectic enzyme. If you don’t use the tablets, merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

Twenty-four hours later, check the PA (probably seems a bit high, but don’t worry), add your champagne yeast starter, add a bung and an air lock, and let ’er rip.

Check during the first few days and weeks to make sure nothing is getting out of hand, then top up the wine with enough cool boiled water to fill the carboy to within a few inches of the top. Rack the wine carefully at least twice.

Remember, honey takes longer to ferment out. The second time you rack, taste for spices. You might want to add more ginger water. When it ferments out dry, bottle it, and wait six months, then taste it. I served this almost exactly a year from when it was first made, but it benefited considerably from another couple of years in the bottle. Who knows what the future will bring with this melomel?

TUTTI-FRUTTI I

This was my first serious tutti-frutti, made after a wild morning in the farmers’ market. The berries dominate. It makes five gallons at a pretty reasonable price and doesn’t taste like spumoni at all.

4 lbs. strawberries

2 lbs. raspberries

1 lb. blueberries

2 lbs. peaches

2 16 oz. cans sour pie cherries

1 12 oz. can frozen red grape juice

1 12 oz. can “tropical” (pineapple, banana, passion fruit) drink OR orange juice

6 lbs. sugar

2 lbs. light honey

sufficient water to make up five gallons

10 tsps. acid blend

1½ tsp. tannin

2½ tsps. pectic enzyme

6 tsps. yeast nutrient

5 Campden tablets, crushed (optional)

1 packet champagne yeast

Prepare all the fruit and put it in one big or two smaller nylon straining bags. Thaw the juices. Place them in the bottom of a sanitized primary fermenter.

Boil about 1 to 2 gallons of the water with the sugar and honey, depending on how big a kettle you have. Skim if necessary.

Pour the hot sugar water over the fruit and juices. Add the rest of the water needed to make up the five gallons and a little over (because of the fruit bulk). Add the yeast nutrient, acid, and tannin, including the Campden tablets, if you choose to use them. Cover and fit with an air lock. If you use the Campden tablets, wait at least 12 hours before adding the pectic enzyme. In another 12-24 hours, check the PA and add the yeast.

Stir daily. In a week or two, lift out the fruit bags, and let them drain without squeezing. Discard the fruit. Check out the volume of wine and the PA. If you need to add more water, do. If you have a little too much, don’t worry. Life is too short as it is.

When the PA goes down to 2 to 3 percent, rack the wine off into a glass carboy, and fit it with an air lock.

Rack it twice more during the next six months or so. Wait till the wine clears and it ferments out.

This wine is good dry, but you can sweeten it by stabilizing and adding 8 to 10 ounces of sugar in a syrup solution.

Bottle it in large and regular sized bottles. Wait six months before trying.

FREEZER ROSÉ

Another version of the above, this one is a lighter rosé. It gets its name from the time I cleared all the previous year’s leftover fruit out of the freezer and made it into wine. It’s good summer wine.

4 lbs. strawberries

1 lb. raspberries

2 lbs. fresh grapes

2 lbs. dark plums

4 lbs. peaches

2 12 oz. cans frozen red grape juice

water sufficient to make up five gallons

6 lbs. sugar AND 2 lbs. honey

10 tsps. acid blend

1½ tsp. tannin

5 tsps. yeast nutrient

5 Campden tablets, crushed (optional)

2½ tsps. pectic enzyme

1 packet champagne or Montrachet yeast

Prepare all the fruit and put it in one bag or two smaller nylon straining bags. Thaw the juices and place everything in the bottom of a sanitized primary fermenter.

Boil about 1-2 gallons of the water with the sugar and honey, depending on how big a kettle you have. Skim if necessary.

Pour the hot sugar water over the fruit and juices. Add the rest of the water needed to make up the five gallons and a little over (because of the fruit bulk). When cool, add the yeast nutrient, tannin, acid, and chemicals, including the Campden tablets, if you choose to use them. Cover and fit with an air lock. If you use the Campden tablets, wait at least 12 hours before adding the pectic enzyme. In another 12-24 hours, check the PA and add the yeast.

Stir daily. In a week or two, lift out the fruit bags, let them drain without squeezing, and discard the fruit. Check out the volume of wine and the PA. If you need to add more water, do. If you have a little too much, don’t worry. Be happy.

When the PA goes down to 2 to 3 percent, rack the wine off into a glass carboy, and fit it with an air lock.

Rack it twice more during the next six months or so. Wait till the wine clears and it ferments out.

This wine is good dry, but you can sweeten it by stabilizing it and adding 8 to 10 ounces of sugar in a syrup solution.

Bottle it in large and regular sized bottles. Wait six months before trying.

GENERIC WINES

These are wines that either come close to tasting like grape wines or to not tasting of any particular fruit. I am giving the recipes in one-gallon batches because you will have your own ideas about them and might want to experiment with several versions at once. It’s nice to have a basic white and a basic red around.

GENERIC RED