FEIJOA
Also known as the pineapple guava, these fruits are native to South America. Their pale yellow flesh is very sweet. The taste is a cross between a pineapple and a banana, but has also been described as minty-pineapple. The tiny seeds embedded in a jelly-like center are edible. The thick, waxy skin is too tart to eat fresh but can be used in pickles or preserves. The fruit are rich in citric acid but lack both tartaric and malic acids. Choose fruit that has a rich, perfumy fragrance and gives slightly to the touch. Once ripe, store feijoa in the refrigerator up to 2 days. The fleshy white flower petals are sweet and can be made into their own wine. Pluck the flowers carefully and the fruit will still develop. The fruit are available in New Zealand from April through June and in California from September through January.
Feijoa Wine
2-1/2 lbs peeled feijoas
sugar to bring s.g. to 1.100
water to make up 1 gallon
1/4 tsp tannin
1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1/4 tsp malic acid
1-1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
wine yeast
Wash fruit before peeling. Discard peelings and chop fruit roughly. Place fruit in nylon straining bag, tie and put in primary. Mash fruit in bag and squeeze vigorously to extract juice. Set nylon bag aside for now and add enough water to make up one gallon. Measure specific gravity and add sugar to bring s.g. up to 1.100, stirring thoroughly to dissolve sugar completely. Add tannin, tartaric acid, yeast nutrient, and pectic enzyme. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add bag of fruit pulp and wine yeast (best to start yeast in advance and add starter). Ferment on the pulp for 6 days, squeezing bag daily to extract juice. At end of 6th day, squeeze bag thoroughly and discard pulp. Allow to settle overnight and siphon off sediments into secondary and fit airlock. You will have slightly more than a gallon, so pour the extra juice into a bottle just large enough to accept it and put a clean ballon over the mouth of the bottle of juice and place in refrigerator to use later for topping up. Ferment in secondary 30 days and rack into clean secondary, topping up with juice in refrigerator, and refit airlock. After 60 days rack, top up again and refit airlock. After additional 60 days if wine is not clear rack into another secondary and wait until it clears before racking into bottles. If clear, rack into bottles right then. Wine will be drinkable after 6 months, but improves with age. [Author's recipe from
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques31.asp]
