The History or Story Behind My Site
There isn't really a secret here, I like making and drinking wine

The Recipes and how to do it
The recipes for wine making fall into certain groups, determined by the nature of the basic ingredient. Thus flowers, producing wines exquisite in colour, flavour and bouquet, contribute little to the wine apart from these. There's no tannin, no sugar, no acid or nutrient in the basic ingredient to push along the action of the yeast. In wines made from flowers, all these deficiencies must be made up and so, in many respects, the recipes for these wines are similar. In the case of wines made from fruit , the amounts of sugar, tannin and acid from the parent substance vary according to the fruit being used and it's state of ripeness. The fact that these items will be present in greater or lesser degrees and an attempt is made in the recipe to balance them correctly. Pectin is a problem where fruit is concerned and boiling is to be avoided wherever possible. Wines made from root vegetables will usually call for boiling until the vegetable is soft. Always simmer gently in such circumstances, since pectin can supply it's difficulties. In these wines deficiencies in acid and tannin will be invariably need to be made up. Sugar, however, may be present to an appreciable degree, as for instance, in beetroot and parsnip in late winter. Care must then be taken to add only enough extra sugar to keep the initial gravity reading to 100, or less if a dry wine is required.

As regards the individual recipes, the following points should be noted:

1. Where tannin is required, add one table spoonful of strong tea or use wine tannin from the shop at the rate suggested on the bottle.

2. Many recipes call for a pectin destroying agent. This appears on the market under various names, of which Pectolase is one. Any of the others will do just as well.

3. Yeast and yeast nutrient, both of which are needed in all recipes, should be used at the rate of one slightly rounded tea spoonful for each gallon. Make sure the temperature of the must is below 27C (80F) before adding the yeast.

4. The sugar stated in the recipe is only approximate and, in general, assumes that a dry wine is the objective. Use the hydrometer and add the sugar in stages to bring the initial reading to a value that will produce the type of wine you desire. For a dry wine, limit the gravity reading to 100 on the hydrometer. For a sweeter product, about 120 should be aimed for. For a sweet wine, more body is usually desirable. This can be achieved by introducing up to 1lb or 1/2kg of chopped raisins and or crushed wheat or barley to the brew in the first stages.

Points to bear in mind when things go wrong.

1. When fermentation does not begin.

a) Check that the temperature is within the range 15C (60F) to 24C (75F). moving the must to a warmer place will sometimes solve the problem.

b) The yeast may be old and dead. Try a different sample of yeast.

2. When the fermentation starts, but stops too soon. The brew becomes stuck at a gravity reading of, say, 40 to 60. Withdraw 0.5 pint/ 250 ml of the must into a small bottle, and add to this one level tea spoonful of yeast nutrient and yeast. Put a cotton wool bung into the bottle and place it in a warm place 15C to 24C. when the must has begun to work again, add it to the bulk and it should get going again.

3. If it turns vinegary, I'm afraid you haven't done your sterilisation procedure properly. It could have been prevented by stricter use of the sterilising solution which keeps the vinegar fly at bay. Wine which has been thus attacked cannot be saved. Either throw it away or give it to someone you don't like.

4. If the wine has fermented out to zero gravity and shows no sign of clearing after a month or so, this process can be accelerated by adding wine finings at the rate stated on the bottle or packet. This will improve the wine to a sparkling clearness within a couple of days. Of course you will have to rack the wine again as the deposit falls to the bottom of the bottle.

5. The amounts of water called for in the recipes varies between 7 - 8 pints or 4 - 4 1/2 litres. The ultimate objective is to produce a must of about 9 pints or 5 litres. This will be contributed to by the water content of the basic ingredient, which is bound to be considerable in the case of ripe fruit and by the sugar as it dissolves.

6. Each recipe shows all the ingredients and the method used for preparing the must. The fermentation process, the racking and all that follows is exactly the same in each case



Mum's Gingerwine

Root ginger 2oz
Granulated sugar 3lb
Water 10pints.
Lemons 3
Honey 2tbs
Campden tablets
G.P. wine yeast
Yeast nutrient

Bruise the root ginger well (you may find this easier once it has been softened) and put it in a saucepan with 3 pints of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour. Take a large plastic bucket and add 3 lb. of sugar, the juice of 3 lemons and the honey to it . pour the ginger water on to this and stir well. Boil the remainder of the water and add to the other ingredients, stir it all well, then pop in a crushed campden tablet and cover and leave for 24 hours. Stir in yeast and yeast nutrient and leave in a warm place for a further 24 hours. It is ready to strain in to a fermentation demi-john without further ado, fit an airlock and allow to ferment to dryness. When fermentation is finished, rack and clear before bottling. You can drink it at once. Don't waste the root ginger, put it into a saucepan with 0.5lb. of sugar and a pint of water, and boil until the liquid is reduced to syrup. This is useful, either to add to hot drinks, or to use as flavourings for puddings or cakes.