quick wine

[safronsue]

i think i remember reading about a wine that can be drunk within a few months but i can't find anything now on the search. I am impatient i know, sorry. what's the fastest you can make wine from fresh fruit? a link to a recipe would be great. Did i mention i really like this site?

 

[brazedowl]

haha I've made some in as few as 2 months using concentrate and even pie filling.

 

[safronsue]

mmm, too many juicy things on trees in my garden to be doing with such things i'm afraid brazedowl. you in progress list sounds devine btw, is it all pie fillings and concentrates? I guess with them things are much less likely to go off. correct me if i am wrong please.

is a speedy recipe for wine from fruit too big an ask?

 

[summersolstice]

You can make wine from fruit (or anything else) that can be ready in 6 months or so. Keep the alcohol low - 10% or so and if you back sweeten after fermentation you'll have a pretty decent wine. Higher alcohol and dryness in wines are usually associated with age.

 

[jpoc]

...what's the fastest you can make wine from fresh fruit?...

Look at the commercial wine industry.

Each year, the first Beaujolais comes out in the middle of November. (Third Thursday to be precise.)

Variations in the dates of both the harvest and that third Thursday mean that the time between harvest and the first consumption varies between 6 and 8 weeks.

Is it any good? I'll put it like this: when I lived in Europe, I used to look forward to it as a once a year treat but that was all and my wife made it clear that she put up with it as a once a year burden.

Sometimes, wine can be made even faster. In 2003, Europe had record breaking high summer temperatures. At the start of October, I noticed that my local supermarket was selling a French Vin de Pays en Primeur. Even though the harvest would have been earlier in the hot summer, this surely meant that the wine was in the shops not much more than 4 weeks after harvest. I bought a bottle and took it home. My wife rolled her eyes in horror and I opened it and poured it out. Wow! Full bodied, plenty of tannin, rich and very satisfying. Undisclosed grape variety but clearly mostly Cab Sav.

So, the answer is that it can be as little as weeks and not months but you really need to get the right fruit in order to get away with it.

 

[brazedowl]

mmm, too many juicy things on trees in my garden to be doing with such things i'm afraid brazedowl. you in progress list sounds devine btw, is it all pie fillings and concentrates?

the only all-fresh-fruit one is the strawberry peach.

 

[safronsue]

yes, i should ve thought about the beaujolais. now i'm getting all fired up at the prospect of some beau joly xmas. Also taking on board the low alcohol advise and the fact i need to learn about back sweetening. i'm thinking that means adding sugar to restart fermentation.

peach and strawberry ,mmmmmmmm!

thanks guys!

 

[summersolstice]

i need to learn about back sweetening. i'm thinking that means adding sugar to restart fermentation.

Back sweetening is done after fermentation is complete and the wine has been stabilized with sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to avoid restarting the fermentation. It makes the wine sweeter and you can use sugar, honey, or fruit juice to add sweetness and/or flavor.