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artbysheryl

Making Organic Wine

sheryl_ontario
12 years ago

I just found this forum and I'm hoping it will be a great resource! I make my own organic wine at home all the time from anything I think will be good or interesting. I only make organic wine, so I don't use campden tablets (sulphite) or sorbate or kits. Neither hubby or myself can drink sulphite. I make it from scratch and it is so easy!

I always use the Lalvin E-118 wine yeast, as I like the flavour and it's a lot faster than the old yeast from 20 years ago. I have considered using champagne yeast occasionally but don't want to risk it. I also add pectic enzyme and acid blend,(instead of the orange and lemon juice in most old recipes). I like the taste of the acid blend that I buy. It's a combination of natural citric, malic and tartaric acids.

I just started 5 gallons of rhubarb today. I saved about 15 pounds of chopped, frozen rhubarb from the garden so far this year, just for making this batch of wine. It's the first rhubarb I have made. I am excited about trying it!

I am drinking rose petal and sugar snap pea pod right now, both made last year and I also have a dandelion and lilac aging that were made at the same time last year. I have a gallon each of apple, made last fall - maple, made late winter - banana made 3 mos ago - and mint made recently. I am collecting more mint in the freezer for another batch at the end of the season. If I can collect enough mint (and we have a lot of it here!) I want to make 5 gallons.

Soon our strawberries will be ready and I will make wine from those. I also have raspberries, gooseberries and blackberries in my "wine" garden, although the blackberries are new and not likely to produce this year.

Last year I planted two small black mulberry bushes, one black elderberry, one serviceberry and about 5 black currants, also for future wine making. In addition, I am growing 5 small haskap honeyberry bushes and a few tiny, baby goji berry bushes, also for wine making. I have a choc mint and a lemon mint that I intend to make wine with too.

I like the flower wines that I have made and plan to make hibiscus and rose hip/petal this year. It is too late now to make dandelion or lilac again. I was just too busy planting this spring!

I LOVE making my own wine! It's a lot of fun! I have not made a bad wine yet.

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