Mostly Redcurrant - the making of ...

Sunday 26th June was a busy day for wine-making. All three buckets are in use - an event that only happens once a year. I was not sure that Redcurrant would figure in 2011, what with last year's batch being disappointing and Julia muttering darkly about buying an air rifle to see off the greedy pigeons. However, Claire and I spent some of Sunday morniing on Julia's allotment and came away with 2 lbs of redcurrants. These were mostly at the bottom of the bushes and so required contortionist poses to reach. When I was not picking fruit, I was watching a beehive at the top of the allotment. When Claire was not picking fruit she was wreaking havoc on bindweed and ground elder - therapy for an altercation she had on Saturday with a woman who insists on parking across our drive.

The top of Julia's allotment

At home I weighed the redcurrants and was all for putting them in the freezer because a single batch requires 3 lbs. Claire, though, produced another 12 oz that she had picked on Friday whilst I was picking gooseberries. We made up the fruit to the full 3 lbs with 4 oz red gooseberries from our garden.

I washed the fruit and started stripping the currants from their stalks. Very quickly I thought "Bugger it" and put everything into the bucket - stalks and all. I'm sure it won't make a difference - or if it does, I will know for next time. And it saved me at least an hour.

Redcurrants, red gooseberries and stalks

I crushed the fruit and poured over 6 pints of boiling water with 2 lbs 12 oz sugar dissolved in it. The yeast and a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase were added on Monday morning. I will probably put it all into its demijohn on Sunday.