Home made Fruit Wine - No chemicals added

Home Made raspberry wine

 Nothing is as gratifying as making your own wine at home.  Around this time of year many fruit trees are groaning with fruits that the home-owners are not quite sure  how to handle after eating, baking or even canning or making jams.  I see many homes with the fruits just left on their trees to be eaten by birds or just rot.  Making wine is a nice alternative.

My journey with wine making started quite simply about nine years ago.  An elderberry tree that was planted some years before had produced so many elderberries that the branches were almost touching the ground.  After doing some research on the fruit I found that Elderberries are native to Ontario and come in clusters of small berries that must be removed very carefully before cooking.  The stems can cause an upset stomach or maybe toxic in large quantities, however if properly handled the berries make excellent pies, jams and wine.  So my husband and myself proceeded with the tedious process of removing the berries.

After having several containers of ripe fruit in the house, I did more research on what I could prepare in the kitchen with these unique purple berries before they all rotted.  That year we ate elderberry pie and bottled several bottles of elderberry wine.  The wine was of a deep purple color and clarity that was enjoyed by both friends and family alike.

In my quest for simple recipes without chemicals and other additives I came across a very old recipe that the early Canadian pioneers used for making elderberry wine.  I was excited at the prospect of trying out and making my own wine.  Since then I have used this recipe to also make blueberry wine, raspberry wine and this year I am making Plum wine.  This will be the first year that I will have a light wine because the plums were of the white flesh variety that were given to me by a produce "guy" who was trying to get rid of his over-ripe fruit...how lucky for me!

Wherever you are in the world, you can use this simple recipe to produce your own wine.  Start with a smaller quantity (half this recipe, and double it when you feel comfortable with your wine making skills.  The same quantity/packet of yeast can be used when the recipe is halved).  This recipe can be used on any ripe, juicy fruit.

This recipe was adapted from Mollie Harris' country wine book.

My father-in-law wrote the book " Successful Goan Home Made Wines by Edwin Saldanha". 
"My book is the only one in the whole world that tells you how to make wine from tropical fruits," he says. The book has recipes on how to make wine from mangoes, bananas, cashews and even kokum and jambul (Portuguese plum). 
 For any one interested in making wines in Goa this book is available through Amazon.

Please feel free to add a comment below if you have visited this blog. I look forward to your visiting remarks.

Ingredients

6 lb of ripe fruit removed from stems (washed, pitted and roughly cut if larger fruit)
6 lbs  granulated sugar
2 lemons
2 lbs raisins or sultanas
1 packet of wine yeast (see photograph) I got this from a wine making store

Must have items ( buy from a wine-making store) (see pictures below)
A demijohn ( a large bottle)
an airlock (buy one or borrow one)
Note: some references for air locks are linked below
 http://www.stonehelm.co.uk/browser.php?genre=How+To+use+an+airlock,+trap,+bubbler&headerType=spc&file=lessonairlock.php


Method

For my recipe this year I used 6 pounds of white plums.
Sanitize a large bucket or metal canning container.  I  boiled water in the container to sanitize it, and then rinsed the container in the water.
 Put the fruit into the container.

Boil the 2 gallons of water and pour the boiling water over the fruit. ( Tip:  I boiled 2 smaller containers at the same time to make the pouring more manageable ).
Using a sanitized metal spoon or masher, mash the fruit as best you can against the side of the container in order to release as much juice as possible.  Then put in the raisins.
Cover the container and leave for 3 - 4 days.
NOTE
Do not use any electronic devices like hand held blenders etc. to ease this process.
Do not boil the fruit in the water

After 3 -4 days open the container and skim off any scum from the top.

Sanitize another container and strain the contents into the second container.  Once again I used 2 smaller containers to make the handling and pouring more manageable for me. I used colanders to separate the larger pieces and then a strainer to pour the juice back into the first container.

Note:  Spread newsprint on the work area to make spills and splashes easier to clean-up.

Discard the fruit pulps

To the clear liquid in your original container add the sugar and stir till dissolved.

Squeeze the juice of the lemons into the liquid.  Try to get all the juice out.

Sprinkle on the yeast and cover for another 3 days.

After 3 days, strain again with a sieve lined with cheese cloth.  Pour into a demijohn ( the bottle seen in the picture)

Fix the airlock ( the capped top) and leave until the bubbling completely stops, about 4 months.

After 4 - 5 months siphon the clear liquid into a sterilized container.  Filter into bottles and cap for use.  Try not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the original bottle so your wine has a nice clarity.

My plum wine is still in the demijohn waiting to finish the process.  I marked it with the date I poured the liquid into the demijohn (August 21, 2015).  Hopefully my wine will be ready for Christmas.  For my berry wines, the product was ready in 4 months.  I will add to this post when I bottle my wine.

Cheers!

Picture taken Sept 9, 2015 shows the liquid much clearer and sediment at the bottom, and the yeast is still active