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["Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com>]

*Basic Dry Wine Recipe

I**ngredients*

50 peaches (rinsed, quartered and pitted - not peeled) or 10-12# of other
fruit
5# white sugar
5 gallons water
5 tsp. acid blend (this is a product you buy, it's a combination of acids,
but citric acid also works)
1 tsp. tannin
1 packet active dry yeast (I used Montrachet)
1 finely netted bag used for wine making (to fit 5 g. bucket)
Campden tablets or Potassium Metabisulfite
6 gallon bucket w/ lid or similar item
Fermentation lock
5 gallon Carboy

Note: Many wine recipes call for campden tablets, or potassium
metabisulfite, to sterilize the wine and fermenting bucket. I boiled a pot
of water and dissolved two tabs in the water. Then swished the water around
in the clean bucket, I emptied bucket but did not rinse. This left some
sulfites, but not much, in my wine. I prefer to avoid sulfites, this is a
benefit (to me) in making my own. You may prefer to error on the side of
knowing your wine is 'safe', if this is the case add 2 tablets to your
peach/liquid. I figured that I started with peaches that had not been
sprayed (my own) and used a clean bucket and opted out.

1. Prepare fermenting bucket (as above).

2. Dissolve sugar in a large pot w/ one gallon of water and bring to a low
boil. Pour in bucket.

3. Prepare peaches. Put in netted bag. Put bag in bucket. Mash with potato
masher or similar kitchen tool. Should have what chunks of peaches, not
'sauce'.

4. Add 4 gallons of very hot water (does not need to be boiling).

5. Allow peach/water mixture to come down to room temperature.

6. When peach/water mixture is near room temp., add tannin, acid blend or
citric acid and stir well. After you have stirred, add one packet of active
dry yeast. Gently stir. IF you have added Campden tablets, you MUST wait 24
hours before adding yeast or you will kill the yeast.

7. Cover using lid and fermentation lock OR cover with a double-layered
clean towel and lid that fits but allows gas to escape. (I used towel & lid
combination.)

8. Let ferment for 7-21 days. (I allowed mine to ferment for 20 days, it
actively bubbled for 17-18 days, calmed down for the last few).

9. Sterilize carboy with campden tablets or Potassium Metabisulfite. Rinse
(or not).

10. Drain the peaches by suspending bag over the bucket (use a broom and
ladder or similar contraption).

11. Rack wine into carboy. Use a clean plastic tube to siphon the wine into
the carboy (dip both ends of the tube into the water used to sterilize the
carboy). Wine bucket needs to be higher than carboy.

12. You may need to rack again at 3 months. If wine is cloudy you have
option of adding Finings such as Sparkleloid to settle the lees and clear
the wine at this point.

13. Age 6-12 months then bottle.

First, this is much easier than it sounds. I used a new 8 gallon wastebasket
w/ lid instead of buying a 6 gallon bucket for wine because it was cheaper.
I figured it was pretty much the same thing. My wine made 5.5 gallons, it
filled the 5 gallon carboy and two quart canning jars. You may need this
extra amount if you rack a second time, you always lose liquid where the
lees (sediment) are at the bottom, you don't want to disturb the liquid
containing the lees which is why you end up with less.

The ingredients to make wine cost less than I thought. Wine yeast costs .40
to .70 cents per packet. Campden tablets or Potassium Metabisulfite runs
$2+/- as does a bottle of tannin and Acid blend. The expensive item is the
carboy, but it can be used repeatedly.

IF you add Campden tablets to the fruit water mixture (not in the
sterilization process, but if you choose to add a tablet or two to the fruit
liquid, you *MUST wait 24 hours* before adding yeast or you will KILL the
yeast.

My friends sometimes makes this recipe using champagne yeast, the result is
wine that is slightly effervescent. They vary the fruit used every year and
it turns out well. The main recipe uses approximately 10# of fruit but you
can use more, I figured I used 12#. You can also use 1 or 2 tsp. of yeast
nutrient, but my local store was out so I did without, the yeast worked just
fine. Check the date before you buy.