Strawberry Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

 

It is 14th July and this is the latest I have made strawberry wine. All fruit is late this year, but I was concerned that I may have missed out on the Pick Your Own Strawberries. My worries were not entirely unjustified. I arrived at Wharfedale Grange and was told there were 'Plenty' in the furthest field. 'Some' would have been a more accurate description.

Wharfedale Grange Pick Your Own

In past years I have been relatively fussy with my fruit, picking those at ideal ripeness and trying for the larger berries. This year I took anything I could get. Not quite fully red? A dark maroon? Tiny strawberries akin to wild alpine versions? All went into my basket. I didn't even draw the line at 'nibbled by insects', though I did reject 'crushed underfoot'.

I came away with five and a half pounds of fruit, and this took ages. Claire had given me up for dead. At home I weighed out four pounds of strawberries and washed them. For the first time ever I decided not to hull them. I am sure the greenery won't kill me. I crushed the strawberries in the bucket and covered them with four pints of boiling water and three pounds of sugar. 

On Monday night, 15th July, after a meal of cold salads, I strained the liquid into a demijohn, keeping the pulp in our largest pan. I poured two pints of cold water over the pulp and let it stand while I racked my Dandelion and washed and resterilised the bucket. I then strained the liquid from the pulp into the bucket, throwing the pulp away, and poured the liquid in the demijohn back into the bucket. I added a sachet of yeast (Burgundy) and a teaspoon each of tannin, pectolase and nutrient. This all took far longer than it should.

However, putting the wine into the demijohn on Thursday 18th July was rapid work. It is much paler than usual - a light terracotta orange rather than a deep pink. At least it is bubbling away with vigour.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here