At our General Meeting on October 25, 2022, Vi Epperson, one of our newest members, gave a presentation about how to make fruit wines at home. Vi had too much fruit growing at her house and found a recipe handbook for making fruit wine. She considers herself a kitchen winemaker. Here’s what we learned:
Equipment needed:
- Food grade fermentation bucket. (Sanitation is very important.)
- Mesh bag to hold the fruit.
- Carboys (specially shaped jugs for the second fermentation.) They come in 1- gallon, 3- gallon, 5-gallon sizes or larger. Vi had a 3-gallon one with her. One gallon=5 bottles.
- Siphon tubing
- Corker
Supplies can be found at the wine supply store including the Beverage People. Vi can also loan out some of her equipment if she is not using it.
Process:
- Make a sugar solution with water based on the weight of the fruit.
- Add the yeast nutrient, the acid blend, the pectinase (an enzyme that breaks up pectin), and sulfite (to prevent bacteria) to the sugar solution.
- Put the cut-up fruit (remove stems, seeds, and blemishes, but not skin) in the mesh bag and let it sit for a day in the sugar solution.
- Add the yeast after 24 hours. Keep the container covered. Avoid fruit flies.
- Stir and press the pulp each day for 5 to 7 days.
- Strain and siphon to a carboy with an airlock which helps release the CO2 gas.
- Siphon to another carboy after about 3 weeks.
- After 2-3 months when the bubbling CO2 stops and it seems that the fermentation has ended, you can siphon again, leaving behind the lees (the residual plant material that has settled to the bottom) to have as clear a wine as possible.
- Bottling can then occur.
Thank you, Vi, for an informative presentation and the wine tasting that followed!