Grow Your Own Magazine

Never tried my hand at wine, going to use my glut of blackcurrants to make some. Any tips, any recipes or any warnings?

Andrewo

If you are short on fruit at all, pure fruit juice makes a cheap alternative that works well. It means if you want to combine flavours eg apple and blackcurrent wine but dont have any apples you can bung in some apple juice. Good luck!

Thanks Catriona,
Will certainly try this.

Andrewo

Hi Andrew,

Years ago I had a dabble with the old Homebrew and I bought a book from Boots "the Boots book of home wine and beermaking" if you can get hold of a copy of this it has some great recipes in. I remember trying to walk back with my wife from a party having consume 3 bottles of mixed friut jam wine, it too 20 minutes and it was only about 300 yards So be warned it can be powerful stuff

For any one thats interested I'll dig out the book and post the details.

Hi Andrew,
Blackcurrants are high in pectin which is likely to cause a haze in your finished wine, you can still drink it but it doesn't look so good! Get some pectinase and follow the instructions on the pack - you need to add it before you bung in the yeast.

You may have already gone ahead with your recipe already, sorry for the late reply but I've just joined the 'Vine!

PS you can also make wine with Ribena... I've got the recipe somewhere if anyone wants to try it!

Hello Birdie Wife,

Welcome to the Vine. Ribena wine sounds interesting, could you find the recipe and post it? This is the year we're going to start wine making. My Dad was a keen and excellent maker of wine for years but has given up now and we've inherited a load of gear from him.

Lorna.

Hi Lorna,

This is quoted from "First Steps in Winemaking" by CJJ Berry, an excellent reference for beginner winemakers as it has lots of information about eqiupment and methods that I found really useful.

"Blackcurrant (Ribena) wine

One 12oz bottle of Ribena Blackcurrant juice will in fact make one gallon of wine. Dissolve 1.5kilo (3lb) of sugar in some warm water, and add the blackcurrant juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes to drive off any preservative, cool, and pour into a gallon jar, filling it to the shoulder. Then add your chosen wine yeast, or a level teaspoon of Allinson's granulated yeast. The merest trace of acid (one-third of a teaspoon of citirc acid) and a pinch of yeast nutrient should also be added. Insert the air-lock and stand the jar in a warm place for fermentation to get underway. When the first vigourous fermentation has died down after a fortnight or so, top up the jar with warm water to the bottom of the neck, and re-insert air-lock; then continue with the fermentation in the usual way"

I've found two key things are to sterilise EVERYTHING before you start and to rack off the wine once or twice, never let it sit on the must for weeks once it's cleared. You learn the hard way!

I'm also going to be starting some birch sap wine in the next couple of weeks - you have to tap the trees when the sap's rising, and the resulting wine is excellent (and easy!). I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a go, the recipe should be in the standard books or on one of the websites above.

All the best, and good luck!

Well thanks very much Birdie Wife! That definitely looks worth a try. I'll let you know..

Lorna.