Wine made from raisins: 2 recipes at home

In fact, raisins are just another form of grapes, but to make wine, you need to take a responsible approach to the choice of raw materials. It's not enough to just go to any supermarket and pick up the first raisins you see. Since today most producers treat dried fruits with sulfur dioxide, which simply does not give any chance to survive to any microorganisms, including wild yeast, which are necessary for the fermentation of wort.

Where to get quality raisins with wild yeast

1. Cook raisins yourself. To do this, you need the right grape variety and a dry room (for example, an attic).

2. Buy raisins only from trusted sellers at the market or in small dried fruit shops.

3. Trial and error method. In any supermarket, take several varieties of raisins and prepare a sourdough starter from each variety (recipe below). And in further cooking, use only the product that gave the best results.

To make wine, you will need a raisin starter

Ingredients

1. Unwashed raisins - 100 g of each type that you can find

2. Raw warm water (maximum 30 degrees)

3. Granulated sugar - 1.5 tbsp. l per 100 g of raisins

Step-by-step cooking instructions

1. Put 100 g of raisins and granulated sugar in liter jars and fill them to the top with water.

2. Cover the neck with gauze and leave for three days in a warm place.

3. After 3 days, the quality of each type of raisins will be visible. During this time, all the berries should pop up and the initial signs of fermentation should appear (sour odor, hissing and foam).

4. At this stage, the number of jars of sourdough starter may decrease (the starter with low-quality raisins is eliminated). Put a rubber glove on the remaining jars and leave them for another 1 day in the same place.

5. Raisin sourdough starter is ready. You can store it in the refrigerator, but not more than 1-1.5 months.

Before using the starter, take it out of the refrigerator, add 0.5 tablespoon of sugar and leave it warm for several days. As soon as the yeast "sparkles" again, you can continue to make any wine (not only from raisins).

Dry raisin wine

Ingredients

1. Raisins - 1 kg

2. Raisin sourdough starter - 500 ml

3. Water - 5 liters

The method of preparation

1. After getting rid of small debris, pour two liters of water at room temperature over the raisins and leave for 2-3 hours.

2. Once the raisins have swollen, grind them with a blender or meat grinder and transfer them to a glass container of a suitable size.

3. Pour in the leaven and the remaining water + 2 liters in which the raisins swelled.

4. Then cover the neck of the container with gauze and leave it in a warm place for several days. Do not forget to periodically whisk off the wort cap.

5. Once active fermentation begins, install a water seal and leave in a dark, warm place for a period of 3 weeks to 2 months.

6. After the fermentation is complete, the liquid must be drained from the sediment and poured into another glass container (fill it 90%).

7. Go to the stage of silent fermentation. Reinstall the water seal and send the container to a dark and cool room for 2-3 months.

Important! As soon as a sufficiently dense yeast precipitate falls out at the bottom of the container, the drink must be decanted, otherwise the finished wine will be bitter.

1. After the end of the quiet fermentation stage, it needs to be bottled. If you want to get a semi-sweet or dessert wine, then it's time to add glucose or granulated sugar to taste.

2. Now we send the bottles with the drink for 5-6 months for aging. Store the drink in a horizontal position.

Raisin wine with rice

Ingredients

1. Raisins - 500 ml

2. Raisin sourdough starter - 500 ml

3. Unsteamed rice - 1 kg

4. Granulated sugar - 1.5 kg for dry wine (2 for dessert wine)

5. Water - 4 liters

6. Citric acid - 0.5 h. л

The method of preparation

1. Cook the basic sugar syrup from granulated sugar and 1.5 liters of water with citric acid, and cool it to 40 degrees.

2. Pour rice into a glass jar, pour sugar syrup over it and wrap it in a warm blanket. Leave in a warm place for a day to swell.

3. After a day, pour the contents of the jar into a container of a suitable size, pour in the remaining water, the starter and add the raisins. Cover the neck with gauze and leave for 3-4 days. Do not forget to whip the foam cap.

4. As soon as active fermentation begins, install a water seal and leave for 1-1.5 months.

5. After fermentation, carefully pour the wort through a tube and squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth.

6. Pour the liquid into a clean container by 4/5 of the volume and re-install the water seal. Transfer the container to a cool place for 1-1.5 months.

7. The wine is ready when it is completely transparent. But in the process of quiet fermentation, it is necessary to remove the drink from the yeast sediment.

8. After the specified time, the young raisin wine is ready for bottling.

9. Before tasting, it needs to be infused for about 2-3 months.

Update: 31.12.2017

Category: Wine and Vermouth