Topic: Wine succsess!! I'm over the moon

[Biscombe]

I can't tell you how thrilled I am! My first attempt at wine has worked! never expected it to it's a pretty basic made up recipe of home grown red grapes and lemons, sugar, yeast and water!!!! the only non organic thing I added was half a campden tablet!! it's on it's second clearing before I put it into bottles! It tastes sharp, but I'm sure It will mellow in a few months! It's a beautiful rose colour! I'm soooo proud!

Question is

We've got half the amount of grapes left, what fruit or veg can I add to theses grapes to make another batch of wine, the only recipes I can find are for a specific fruit or veg

Question 2

Anyone out there made ginger wine! I love stones ginger wine with whiskey in the winter!

Off to look at the wine and gloat again!!  ;)

[manicscousers]

we used to use blackcurrants and  raspberries, used to make wine like port, glad yours is a success, enjoy  ;D

[pg]

Add elderberries to your grapes, that's what wine importers used to do not so long ago with feeble French wine that was imported.

[GrannieAnnie]

Add elderberries to your grapes, that's what wine importers used to do not so long ago with feeble French wine that was imported.
[/quote  I had my first foray into wine-making using what we had in the garden: crabapples and elderberries. I made separate batches of each then ended up mixing the two. the mixture was quite superior we thought and a very deep lovely color.

[Rob the rake]

The easiest way is to add a carton or two of grape juice from the supermarket.
 I used to make a lot of wine, once upon a time.

One that turned out brilliantly, and is so easy to make, was based on litre packs of fruit juice.

1 litre of white grape juice
1 litre of Orange, Peach and Apricot, or Orange, Apple and Passion fruit.
(I forget the brand, but it's one of the popular ones, and they still do them)
1kg of sugar
Pinch of Tannin
Pinch of Tartaric acid
1 vitamin B1 tablet
1 vitamin C tablet
Hock or Liebfraumilch wine yeast

Because there is no fruit pulp or skin involved, maturation is not needed and it can be ready for drinking in just 4 weeks from start of fermentation to finished product. Yum! ;D

[Rob the rake]

In answer to your second question, my ginger wine was made with a litre each of apple and grape juice, with an inch square of peeled and sliced ginger.
I stopped it at an SG of 1000 to retain a little sweetness and it turned out very nice indeed :P.
You might like to experiment with the quantity of ginger to adjust it to your own particular taste, but you get to drink the "failures", which as we know is no real hardship!

Happy Brewing ;D.

[gunnerbee]

Well done you, my first attemp was awful!! its great to get things right  ;) ;) ;) ;)

[caseylee]

my husband made a gorgeous wine last year from liche juice, I will post the recipe on, it has to stand for 6 months but well worth the wait

[Baccy Man]

Anyone out there made ginger wine! I love stones ginger wine with whiskey in the winter!

GINGER WINE

7-1/2 pts unsweetened white grape juice (from concentrate)
1/2 lb chopped or minced golden raisins
2 oz ginger root
2 lbs granulated sugar
1/2 tsp acid blend
1/4 tsp grape tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 pkt Champagne wine yeast


Mix up the grape juice and dissolve the sugar into it in the primary fermentation vessel. Shred the ginger and add it and the chopped or minced raisins to the primary. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient to must and stir well to dissolve. Sprinkle dry yeast on top of must (do not stir) and cover primary with sterilized cloth. After two days, stir twice daily until specific gravity drops to 1.020. Pour must through nylon straining bag (to collect solids) into secondary and squeeze bag to extract all juice. Discard solids and fit airlock to secondary. Rack after 30 days, top up and reattach airlock. Ferment to absolute dryness (about 2 more months), stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 additional days, and rack into bottles. May drink immediately, but will improve with 6 months aging. This wine may be served as is or blended with other wines lacking in interest.

If you decide to follow Rob the Rakes suggestion & use cartons of fruit juice look for pure fruit juice with no additives particularly Potassium Sorbate (E202). It will totally stop your fermentation, and drive you nuts & it is widely used as a preservative by the majority of fruit juice manufacturers.