Fruit Wines Secrets

I found this post on making fruit wine on Winemaking.net. As everyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows, I prefer not to use sulphites. I guess My method of juice extraction would be similar in results to method 1 except with pasturizing it after fermentation clarification is a non-issue.

Cheers,

Heinz



Fruit Wines Secrets

There is no need for me to mention the enormous popularity this branch of home wine-making enjoys, or that countless thousands of people all over the world embark with tremendous enthusiasm each summer upon turning wild fruits and surplus garden fruits into fruit wines fit to grace the tables of a banqueting hall. Just let me say that, no matter how advanced methods become and how easily obtainable special ingredients for wine making are, there will always be in the hearts of everyone a place for the true country fruit wines, for they have that indefinable 'something' which sets them apart from all others, a uniqueness that cannot be found in any other wine either commercial or home produced.

The fruit wines making methods I use myself are described here, and although they are the simplest and the surest ever evolved, it is necessary to point out the complications that arise if these methods are not used.

Years ago and, I am very sorry to say, even today many thousands of unfortunate home makers of fruit wines are following methods which advocate: 'crush the fruits, add the water and leave to ferment'. Other methods advise boiling the fruits. In both cases disappointment is almost a certainty, and the reason for this is easy enough to understand.

The grey-white bloom that forms on grapes and other fruits is yeast put there by nature and it may be said that the first wine known to early man was the result of this yeast fermenting fruits crushed for a purpose other than wine-making. In the ordinary way, this yeast might well make good wine if allowed to ferment alone. Unfortunately, with this yeast comes what we term 'undesirable' yeast (wild yeast), and several kinds of bacteria each of which can ruin our wines. They bring about what we call 'undesirable' ferments that usually take place at the same time as the ferment we want to take place so that instead of a wine of quality the result is one tasting of flat beer or cloudy evil-smelling liquid fit only for disposal. Another bacterium, known as the vinegar bacterium, will turn fruit wines into vinegar.

Since there is nothing we can do when any of these calamities has occurred, they must be prevented from happening.

Clearly, we must destroy all these enemies before beginning. The simplest method is of course at first thought, anyway is to boil the fruits. But here arises another problem. All fruits contain pectin, a glutinous substance which causes jams to 'set'. Boiling fruit releases pectin. This pectin holds itself and minute solids in suspension, giving the fruit wines a cloudiness that is impossible to clarify or even filter out. We may put the crushed fruit through a jelly-bag to remove every particle of pectin-bearing fruit and then boil the juice only, but this is a messy, tedious job that takes hours and eliminates all the pleasure from wine-making.

Obviously, what we need is a method which will destroy the wild yeast and bacteria on the fruits (as boiling does) without actually boiling, and, indeed, without heating our fruits at all because it needs very little heat to bring out the pectin.

Our method, known as the 'sulphiting' method, does just this and produces full-bodied, crystal-clear fruit wines easily and quickly without fuss or bother. All that is necessary to achieve this are tablets costing a halpenny each. Campden fruit-preserving tablets are available at most chemists in bottles of twenty costing tenpence. In the ordinary way and provided the fruit is not too heavily affected with wild yeast and bacteria one tablet will destroy the undesirable element contained in one gallon of crushed fruit pulp, but we cannot be sure of this. Now, two tablets will surely do this, but being a comparatively heavy dose this might also destroy the yeast we shall be adding so that the ferment we desire does not take place. My method takes care of both these risks, not only destroying the wild yeast and bacteria on the fruits, but also allowing the yeast we add to ferment alone and unhindered to produce fruit wines of clarity and quality the like of which cannot be produced by any other method. By adding one Campden tablet to a good deal less than one gallon of fruit pulp ('must') this will represent a rough equivalent to two tablets per gallon. But before we add our yeasts we shall have increased the amount of liquid or pulp to nearly twice the amount, consequently reducing the amount of sterilizing solution to half or the equivalent of one Campden tablet per gallon. In this way we achieve our overall aim.

Each Campden fruit-preserving tablet contains four grains of sodium metabisulphite; therefore, any makers of fruit wines finding Campden tablets in short supply may ask their chemist for four grains of sodium metabisulphite (or potassium metabisulphite there being two forms), and use this. But because a chemist would find a single order for four grains rather trivial, it would be best to ask for say, six or ten packets each containing four grains. If you are making two-gallon lots of wine the amount to use would be eight grains. Do not be tempted to buy by the ounce and measure out a grain as this is impossible unless you have the appropriate scales.

Just in case you happen to be one of those makers of fruit wines who, even in these enlightened days, abhors the use of chemicals, let me assure you that sulphur dioxide (the solution which results when Campden tablets are dissolved) is quite harmless to humans when used in the proportions recommended. Indeed, as many as eight tablets (thirty-two grains) may be used with safety, but such heavy dosing would prevent a 'must' fermenting.

The sulphiting method is used by the trade, so we shall be following a method well tired and proved.

Heaven knows how many hundreds of gallons of fruit wines I have made by this method and all with the same unfailing success.

Method 1 makes wines of the heavier type; their flavours are more pronounced and their colour more full than those produced by method 2. Those wishing for lighter fruit wines more suitable for serving with meals should use method 2. The main difference in the two methods is that we ferment the fruit pulp itself in method 1, and the juice only in method 2. It will be appreciated that when fermenting the pulp we must as a matter of course get far more from our fruits. But we do not want too much in a light wine otherwise the subtle difference between a heavier wine and the popular lighter wines is lost.

The short pulp ferment of method 1 ensures that we get all the flavour and desirable chemical matter from our fruits in the right proportion.

The best method to use for each type of fruit is given with each recipe. It should be taken into account that varied amounts of fruit and sugar with the use of the proper method produce distinctly different types of fruit wines.

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Method 1
Crush the fruit by hand in a polythene pail and pour on one quart of boiled water that has cooled. Mix well. Crush one Campden tablet and dissolve the powder in about half an egg cupful of warm water and mix this with the fruit pulp. Leave the mixture for one or two hours. A little bleaching will take place but this is nothing to worry about.

After this, take one-third of the sugar to be used (or approximately one-third) and boil this for one minute in three pints of water. Allow this syrup to cool and then stir into the pulp. Then add the yeast (or nucleus) and ferment for seven days.

After seven days, strain the pulp through fine muslin or other similar material and wring out as dry as you can. Put the strained wine into a gallon jar and throw the pulp away. Then boil another one-third of the sugar in one pint of water for one minute and when this has cooled add it to the rest.

Plug the neck of the jar with cotton wool or fit a fermentation lock and continue to ferment in a warm place for a further ten days.

At this stage, if you have not a spare jar, pour the wine into the polythene pail leaving as much of the deposit in the jar as you can. Clean out the jar, sterilize it and return the wine to this.

The remaining one-third of the sugar may now be boiled for one minute in the remaining pint of water. When this has cooled, add it to the rest. Refit the lock or plug the neck of the jar with fresh cotton wool. After this, the wine should be left in a warm place until all fermentation has ceased.

Note. If there is not quite enough space for all of this last lot of syrup, put the remainder in a sterilized screw-top bottle and store for a few days in a cool place. This may be added when fermentation has reduced the level of the liquid in the jar. If you have to do this, don't forget to refit the lock.

Method 2
Crush the fruit in a polythene pail and add one quart of boiled water that has cooled. Mix well.

Crush one Campden tablet and dissolve the powder in about half an eggcupful of warm water and mix this with the fruit pulp. Leave the mixture in a cool place for twenty-four hours, stirring twice during that time. Strain through fine muslin or other similar material and squeeze gently but not too hard. Discard the fruit pulp.

Then boil one-third of the sugar in half a gallon of water for one minute and allow to cool. Mix this with the juice and return the lot to the polythene pail. Then add the yeast (or nucleus), and ferment for ten days.

After this, pour the top wine into a gallon jar leaving as much of the deposit behind as you can. Boil another one-third of the sugar in half a pint of water for one minute and when this is cool add it to the rest. Plug the neck of the jar with cotton wool or fit a fermentation lock and ferment in a warm place for fourteen days.

After this, boil the remaining sugar in the remaining half-pint of water for one minute and when this is cool add it to the rest. Refit the lock or plug the neck of the jar with fresh cotton wool and leave in a warm place until all fermentation has ceased.

The recipes are designed to make one gallon of wine, if two gallons are being made at once twice the amount of each ingredient must be used (including Campden tablets) and the sugar and water added in double quantities. This principle applies where three or four gallons are being made and it is easy enough to work out. Just to be sure that mistakes do not occur when adding the syrup sugar and water stick a label on the jar and note on this the amounts added.

Readers will be quick to appreciate that certain fruits are more suitable than others for making certain types of wine. Clearly, it would be as hopeless to try to make port from rhubarb as it would be to try to grow potatoes on a pear tree, and I think it is in this respect that many people go astray; they make wines from the cheapest and most readily available fruits (naturally enough) but they do not give the slightest thought to what the result will be or whether they will like it or not. Before you begin decide on the type of wine you are most likely to prefer and then use the fruit and the method which will make this type of wine.

Elderberries make an excellent port-style wine and many variations, each with the basic port style underlying them, so that from this lowly wild fruit we may obtain not only a full-bodied port-style wine, but also a Burgundy style, a claret and others according to the whim of the operator. Blackberries make similar wines, as do certain varieties of plums, damsons and blackcurrants. The juice from lighter-colored fruit such as raspberries, loganberries, red and white currants and others make excellent table wines. But there is no need to cover this aspect fully here because every recipe is preceded by the name of the type or style of wine that can be expected from each recipe. I say 'expected', because to guarantee that the wine will be identical to the one expected would be unwise, but only because the amounts of sugar and acid present in the fruits vary from season to season indeed, they vary with the type of tree, soil, situation and with the sort of summer we have had while the fruits have been growing. A hot dry summer produces fruits containing more sugar and less acid than a wet sunless summer, when the effect is the reverse.

In each recipe appears the name of the best yeast to use and this is best added as a nucleus as already described. If you must use bakers' yeast or a dried yeast, merely sprinkle it over the surface of the 'must' at the time given in the method you are using.

A final word. Make sure all fruits are ripe. This is far more important than most people imagine. Half-ripe fruits or those with green patches on them should be discarded as it needs only one or two of these in enough for a gallon of wine to give an acid bite to that wine. Fully ripe fruit is essential if we hope to make the best wine.

When you have decided that your garden fruits are ripe enough or those you have your eye on in the hedgerows, leave them for another three or four days before gathering.


BLACKBERRY WINE
Port Style
4 lb. Blackberries, 4 lb. Sugar (or 5 lb. Invert), 7 pts water, port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment pulp.

BLACKBERRY AND ELDERBERRY WINE
Port Style

2 ½ lb. Elderberries, 2 ½ lb. Blackberries, 7 pts water, 3 ½ lb. Sugar (or 4 lb. Invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp after crushing and mixing together.

BLACKBERRY WINE
Burgundy Style

4-5 lb. Blackberries, 3 3/8 lb. Sugar (or 4 lb. Invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient, 7 pts water.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.

BLACKBERRY WINE
Beaujolais Style
Wine made from this recipe won for me 1st prize among 600 entries on the occasion of the 2nd National Conference and Show of Amateur Wine-Makers at Bournemouth last year.

4½ lb. blackberries, 2½ lb. sugar (or 3 lb. 2 oz. Invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient, 7 pts water.
Method 1 was used. The wine was, of course, dry.

BLACKBERRY WINE


Light Table Wine
3 lb. blackberries, 3 lb. sugar (3¾ lb. invert), 7 pts water, burgundy

yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.

BLACKCURRANT WINE
Port Style

4 lb. black currants, 1 lb. raisins, 3 lb. sugar (or 3 ¾ lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp with the raisins.

BLACKCURRANT WINE
Port Style

4 lb. blackcurrants, 7 pts water, 3½ lb. sugar (or 4 lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.

BLACKCURRANT CLARET
3 lb. Blackcurrants, 2 ½ lb. Sugar (or 3 lb. Invert), 7 pts water, all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.

BLACKCURRANT WINE
A Light, Sweet Wine

3 ¾ lb. Blackcurrants, 3 ½ lb. Sugar (or 4 lb. Invert), 7 pts water, all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.

CHERRY WINE


A Delightful Sweet Wine
8 lb. Black cherries, 7 pts water, 3 ½ lb. Sugar (or 4 lb. Invert), all-purpose wine yeast or Bordeaux yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Weigh with the stones and ferment the pulp.

CHERRY WINE
A Light Dry Wine
8 lb. black cherries, 7 pts water, 2 ½ lb. sugar (or 3 ¼ lb. invert), sherry yeast is best, otherwise all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

RED CURRANT WINE
Light Table Wine

3 lb. redcurrants 7 pts water, 3 lb. sugar (or 3 ¾ lb. invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

REDCURRANT WINE
A Light Medium-Sweet Wine
4 lb. redcurrants, 7 pts water, 3½ lb. sugar (or 4 lb. invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

DAMSON WINE
Port Style

8 lb. damsons, 7 pts water, 4 lb. sugar (or 5 lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Weigh with the stones and ferment the pulp.

DAMSON WINE
Suitable for making into Damson Gin—see ‘Recent Experiments’, page 85.

5 lb. damsons, 7 pts water, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Weight with the stones. Ferment the pulp.

DAMSON AND ELDERBERRY WINE
Port Style

3 lb. damsons, 1½ lb. elderberries, 3½ lb. sugar (or 4 lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient, 7 pts water.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.

DAMSON AND DRIED PRUNE WINE
Burgundy Style

Prunes should be soaked overnight, the water discarded and the prunes added in the crushed state to the crushed damson.

4 lb. damsons, 2 lb. dried prunes, 7 pts water, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.

RASPBERRY WINE
Light, Dry

4 lb. raspberries, 2½ lb. sugar (or 3 lb. 2 oz. Invert), 7 pts water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

RASPBERRY WINE
Sweet Dessert

4 lb. raspberries, 1 lb. raisins, 7 pts water, 3 ½ lb. sugar (or 4 lb. invert), all-purpose wine yeast and nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice but with the chopped raisins for the first seven days.


ELDERBERRY WINE
Port Style

4 lb. elderberries, 7 pts water, 4 lb. sugar (or 5 lb. invert) port yeast, nutrient.

Use method, 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.

ELDERBERRY WINE
Medium Dry

3½ lb. elderberries, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), 7 pts water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

ELDERBERRY CLARET
Dry, of course

3 lb. elderberries, 2½ lb. sugar (or 3 lb. invert), 7 pts water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.

PLUM WINE
Burgundy Style

8 lb. plums, any fully ripe red variety is suitable, 7 pts water 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Weigh with the stones and ferment the crushed pulp.

PLUM WINE
Port Style

Dark red, fully ripe fruits must be used. 10 lb. plums, 7 pts water, 3½ lb. sugar (or 4 lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Weigh with the stones.

Use method 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.

RHUBARB WINE
This wine is best made on the dry side and used as an appetizer. If you try to make it sweet, it would have to be rather too sweet. Four pounds of sugar will make it a medium sweet wine, but even this will not reduce the acidity which gives this wine its character and which, unfortunately, is causing it to lose its popularity. It is possible to remove the acid by using precipitated chalk, but this is hardly for beginners and a practice which, in any case, alters the whole flavor of the resulting wine.

5 lb. rhubarb, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), 7 pts water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Crush the rhubarb with a rolling pin, starting in the middle of each stick. Soak for five days in three pints of water (boiled), and in which one Campden tablet has been dissolved.

Then strain, wring out dry and warm just enough to dissolve half the sugar.

Having done this, ferment for ten days and then proceed as you would with any other recipe here, adding the rest of the sugar and water in stages.

LOGANBERRY WINE
3 to 4 lb. loganberries, 3 lb. sugar (or 3 ¾ lb. invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient, 7 pts water.

Use method 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.

GOOSEBERRY WINE
Table Wine
6 lb. gooseberries, 3½ Ib. sugar (or 4¼ lb. invert), 7 pts water, tokay yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. But ferment pulp for three days.

GOOSEBERRY WINE
Sherry Style
The best gooseberries for this wine are those that have been left on the bushes to turn red or yellow, according to variety. They should be firm but soft and at the same time not damaged. Any damaged ones and any with a suggestion of mould or mildew on them must be discarded.

For a dry sherry style use 2½ lb. sugar, for a medium dry use 3 lb., and for a medium sweet use 3½ lb., or the corresponding amounts of invert sugar.

5lb. gooseberries, 7 pts water, sugar (as above), sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. But ferment the pulp for five days only.

WHORTLEBERRY WINE
Burgundy Style
Whortleberries are a small wild fruit which many people come to the country to pick; they make excellent jams and jellies and very good wines, otherwise known as 'herts'.

6pts whortleberries, 1 pts water, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.

WHORTLEBERRY WINE
Port Style
8 pts whortleberries, 7 pts water, 4 lb. sugar (or 5 lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.

WHORTLEBERRY WINE
Table Wine

5 pts whortleberries, 7 pts water, 2 ½ lb. sugar (or 3 lb. 2 oz. Invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.


SLOE WINE
Sloes make a delightful wine which is very popular with those living in the country, and is particularly suitable for turning into sloe gin. Not more than 4 lb. should be used owing to their astringency.

4 lb. sloes, 3 lb. sugar (or 3¾ lb. invert), 7 pts water, all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.

Use method 1. But ferment pulp for three days only.