How to make homemade wine from chokeberry. The best chokeberry wine recipes: good for any feast! Step-by-step preparation of homemade blackberry wine with cherry leaf

Chokeberry is not only an ornamental plant in the landscape of a garden plot, chokeberry is a very useful plant, widely used in folk medicine. Vitamin syrups, compotes and jams are made from chokeberry berries, dried for the winter and frozen in a freezer. Among home winemakers, the fruits of chokeberry are also popular; they make liquors and tinctures, and chokeberry wine is especially tasty. The wine from it turns out a beautiful ruby color with a pleasant aroma. In some recipes, chokeberry juice is mixed with the juices of other fruits. A particularly good combination is obtained from apples and chokeberries. Apple juice reduces the too tart taste of rowan berries.

Aronia wine is easy to make at home. The wine recipe is similar to any other fruit and berry wine recipe. The most difficult thing is to get juice from chokeberry berries. This can be done in three ways: 1- classic juice extraction; 2- separation of juice by fermenting the pulp; 3 - obtaining juice using Cahors technology. With the first technology, the juice is separated from the berries using a juicer and a press, in this case the pulp is not used, and in fact it contains the largest amount of useful substances. Therefore, for making wine at home, either the second or third method is more often used.

When to harvest chokeberry? Aronia ripens at the end of September, ripe rowan fruits can hang on the branches for another two months, but they can be pecked by birds. Whole umbrellas are cut from the branches, then the berries are separated from the stalks. Chokeberry is well transported and can be stored for a long time at a temperature of +3-6°C. For drying, it is better to pick berries after the first frost, at this time they have the greatest amount of nutrients and sugar. Before making wine from chokeberry berries, it is necessary to sort out the berries, separate the spoiled and moldy fruits. It is important that rowan berries do not need to be washed, on the surface of the rowan there are wild yeasts necessary for the fermentation of wine. Cleanliness must be observed throughout the wine production process, all containers must be washed clean and disinfected.

Step-by-step recipe for wine from chokeberry juice

Ingredients:

Black chokeberry berries - 10 kg;
Sugar - 5 kg;
Unwashed raisins - 100 g;
Water - 2 liters.

Cooking:

Crush clean harvested berries using a meat grinder, a wooden pusher, or simply knead with your hands. The best result will be the use of a special crusher at home.
Place the crushed berries in a suitable saucepan, add 1.5 kg of sugar. The recipe does not use yeast, instead raisins are added and, of course, the wild yeast of the berries themselves is involved in the process. Add raisins and stir everything. Cover the top of the pan with gauze and put in a warm place with a temperature of 20-25 degrees. Every day you need to mix the pulp and drown the foam cap formed on the surface. During this time, the berries will swell, fermentation will begin.
When the fermentation period is over, it is necessary to squeeze the juice from the pulp. This can be done using a bag made of dense fabric, a regular polypropylene bag will do, or using a press. In extreme cases, use a colander. Drain the squeezed juice into the fermentation container, leaving half of the container empty, more juice will be added to it in the future, close the container with a water seal, you can make it from a rubber glove, one finger is pierced with a needle.
Pour 2.5 kilograms of sugar into the remaining pulp and add warm water at a temperature of 30 ° C. Stir the contents, cover with gauze and leave for another week, periodically stir the contents once a day.
After a week, separate the juice from the pulp again and add it to the fermentation tank, where the first batch is already fermenting. Wine should ferment at a temperature of 18-25 ° under a water seal.
After a week, add another 1 kg of sugar, you need to do this by selecting 500 ml of fermenting wine and dissolving sugar in it, then pour the syrup back into the bottle.
The main fermentation lasts 1-2 months, it all depends on the amount of sugar in the must, the temperature of the fermentation and the work of the yeast. At the end of fermentation, the release of carbon dioxide stops, sediment falls, the wine becomes lighter.
At this time, you need to drain the wine from the sediment (decant) using a thin PVC tube without touching the sediment. Pour the drained young wine from chokeberry into a clean, dry bottle to taste and if you need to add sugar, you can also fix the wine with strong alcohol by adding vodka, alcohol or cognac. Install a water seal and place the wine in a cool room with a temperature of 8-15°C.
Quiet fermentation lasts up to 6 months, during this time, when sediment is formed, you need to remove the wine from it, usually once a month.
Pour the finished wine into bottles, cork well and store in the cellar. The strength of the wine is 10-12 degrees. Wine made at home from chokeberry can be stored in a cool cellar for up to 5 years. The longer the exposure time, the better the taste of the drink becomes.

Video recipe for making wine at home

Homemade wine from chokeberry and apples

The wine according to this recipe will turn out softer and not as tart as in the first version. It clarifies better and has a richer bouquet on the palate. It is not difficult to prepare it, even without special experience in winemaking.

Compound:

Chokeberry - 2 kg;
Apples - 1 kg;
Sugar - 3 kg.
Water - 2 liters.

How to do:

Peel black rowan berries or grind in a blender.
Rub the apples, remove the petioles and cut out the cores, chop or pass through a juicer.
In an enamel bowl, mix applesauce with chokeberry, add water and add 1 kg of sugar. Cover the neck with gauze and put in a warm place for a week. Stir the mixture daily and melt the hat of the risen pomace of apples and mountain ash.
After 7 days, squeeze the juice from the cake, pour it into a fermentation bottle. Install a water seal on the neck or make it from a signet.
After a week of fermentation, add 1 kg of sugar in the form of syrup.
After another week, repeat the operation and add the rest of the sugar dissolved in the wine must.
After 2 months, drain the wine from the sediment and send it to a cool room (cellar or cellar) to ferment for 3-5 months.
The finished wine is carefully drained from the sediment, poured into beautiful bottles. Wine from black rowan with apples is ready!

Recipe for blackberry wine drink with cherry leaves

A simple and quick recipe will allow you to prepare an alcoholic drink more like liquor than wine. In three weeks it will already be possible to taste it.

Ingredients:

Chokeberry - 0.5 kg;
cherry leaves - 100 pcs.;
vodka or cognac - 1.5 l;
sugar - 200 gr;
citric acid - 1 tsp

How to prepare the recipe:

Rinse chokeberry berries, scroll through a meat grinder. Place the mass in a saucepan, add cherry leaves. Add water, heat to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve, add sugar with citric acid. Mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Cool the mixture to room temperature, pour into a suitable jar and add vodka. The drink will turn out much tastier if cognac or brandy is included in the recipe as an alcohol base. Leave the jar in a dark place to infuse for 3 weeks. Filter the finished drink through a cotton-gauze filter, pour into bottles and you can enjoy a pleasant aroma and taste.

The benefits and harms of chokeberry

The berries of chokeberry contain a huge amount of substances that are beneficial to the human body. This is a mass of vitamins, various acids, sugars and trace elements. Chokeberry benefits and helps in the treatment of many diseases: lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. Has a diuretic effect. Normalizes the work of the liver and gallbladder. Aronia wine, in addition to benefits, can also cause harm, especially for people with stomach diseases and those suffering from hypotension. It should not be used by pregnant and lactating women.

Chokeberry has many beneficial properties, one of which is associated with the normalization of blood pressure. However, blackberry compotes and jams are not very popular. The reason for this is the tart taste, which is not a hindrance to winemaking. Wine from chokeberry, prepared at home, turns out to be moderately tart, has a delicate taste and aroma characteristic of noble wines. But in order to prepare such a drink, you need to try. Ignorance of some subtleties of technology leads to the fact that the idea to make homemade rowan wine perishes in the bud.

Technology Features

Chokeberry grows everywhere, so it will not be difficult to pick it up, especially since wild-growing ones are also suitable for wine. However, ignorance of some of the features of this berry, important for winemaking, will lead to the fact that the entire berry will go to waste.

Rowan wine can be bitter - it all depends on the variety of the berry. However, by making wine from chokeberries, bitterness can be avoided. The fact is that after freezing, the mountain ash loses its excess bitterness. This means that it is not necessary to collect it at any time, but only after the frost hits.
The second problem faced when making wine from chokeberry at home is the difficulty of obtaining enough juice from it. There are two ways to get her to give this juice. The first is blanching: the berry is poured with boiling water, after half an hour the water is drained, boiled again and the procedure is repeated, after which the chokeberry is poured with cool water (the same, but cooled to room temperature) and thoroughly kneaded with it. The second method is fermentation. With this method, the mashed berry is poured with water, covered with sugar and put in a warm place to ferment, covering the bucket with the pulp with a thin cloth. The "chokeberry" should not ferment for 2-3 days, like other berries, but much longer - 7-9 days, only then it will be ready to give up the juice. During the whole week, the pulp should be stirred at least 2 times a day. When the juice is squeezed out of it, it is not thrown away: sugar and water are again added to the pulp and it is left to ferment, but for a shorter period (up to 5 days), after which the pulp is squeezed again. Two servings of juice are poured together. A combination of the two will give excellent results.
If you want to get a transparent and tasty wine from chokeberry as soon as possible, it must be poured into a clean container during fermentation every week, trying not to touch the sediment. This must be done until the fermentation is over. Only after that the wine can be bottled, but it is not worth drinking yet: the young wine must mature. It should be infused in tightly closed bottles for three months. If it becomes cloudy, then in the middle of this period you need to drain it, freeing it from sediment, and pour it into clean bottles. If you do not follow these recommendations, then it will take much longer to wait for the settling and maturation of wine from chokeberry.
Rowan fermentation can not wait at all if you collected it after the rain or decided to wash it. It is not worth washing off the wild yeast that is on its surface. If this still happens, you will have to purchase pure culture yeast and add it according to the instructions on the bag.

In conclusion, it should be said that dessert wines are truly delicious from chokeberry, table wines often lack taste and aroma. However, there are lovers who appreciate them.

Aronia wine: a classic recipe

chokeberry - 10 kg;
granulated sugar - 4 kg;
water (pure spring or boiled) - 2 l;
raisins (unwashed) - 100 g.

Cooking method:

Sort the mountain ash well and chop the unwashed with a food processor. You should not use a juicer, as it will quickly become clogged.
Pour rowanberry puree with sugar in the amount of 2 kg and pour 1 liter of water. It is important that it be warm, but not warmer than 30 degrees, otherwise the yeast will die.
Having covered the container with mountain ash with gauze, put it in a warm place for a week. Twice a day, stir its contents so that it does not become moldy or sour.
After the specified time, strain the juice through a regular sieve, but do not throw away the pulp.
Pour the juice into a clean glass bottle, close it with a water seal.
Pour the pulp with the remaining water and pour the remaining sugar into it. Stir it for 3-5 days, and then strain through cheesecloth. This time the cake can be thrown away.
Mix the liquid squeezed out of the pulp with the first portion of chokeberry juice. Close the water seal again.
After a week, pour the wort through a thin tube into another clean bottle, then closing it with a water seal. Such actions should be repeated weekly until fermentation completely stops.
Filter the wine through cheesecloth and pour into clean bottles, filling them to the very neck. Close the bottles and wait 3 months.
Strain the wine again and bottle again, corking them and sending them to storage.

The wine according to this recipe is quite sweet, but not too strong - from 10 to 14 degrees. At temperatures up to 18 degrees, it can be stored for 5 years.

Aronia wine with cinnamon

chokeberry - 5 kg;
sugar - 4 kg;
vodka - 0.5 l;
cinnamon - 5 g.

Cooking method:

Sort the berries well, mash them with your hands or with a wooden pestle. Add sugar and cinnamon. Put in a free container with a wide mouth (a basin, a bucket will do), cover with a cloth, put in a warm place.
Stir as often as possible until well fermented. After 8–9 days, squeeze the juice out of the pulp, filter it thoroughly several times.
Place the juice in a fermentation container, wait for the end of fermentation.
Filter the wine, mix with vodka and bottle.
Cork the bottles and place in a cool place.

The wine will mature in six months. To taste, homemade chokeberry wine prepared according to this recipe resembles liquor.

Wine from frozen chokeberry

juice from frozen chokeberry - 3 l;
water - 3 l;
sugar - 2.4 kg;
raisins - 200 g.

Cooking method:

Squeeze 3 liters of juice from thawed berries, warm it to room temperature.
Mix juice with water and sugar. Immediately drain the wort into the bottle where fermentation will take place. Pour raisins there, in no case do not wash it.
Install a water seal. Wait for the wort to ferment, ferment and clear.
Drain the wine, freeing it from sediment, pour into clean bottles and send to ripen in a cool place.

After three months, you will get a real wine, quite light and pleasant to the taste.

Aronia wine: a simple recipe

chokeberry - 1 kg;
water - 1 l;
cloves - 2 pcs.;
cinnamon - 2 g;
citric acid - 1 g;
sugar - 100 g;
vodka - 0.5 l.

Cooking method:

Sort, wash the berries, crush them, sprinkle with sugar, pour two glasses of water and cook, stirring, for half an hour.
Let cool, squeeze juice. Pour the cake with the remaining water, add spices and citric acid, boil again for half an hour, cool and squeeze.
Mix the juices of the first and second extraction, strain, add vodka to them, stir and bottle.

Of course, it would be an exaggeration to call the resulting drink real wine, however, it turns out to be quite pleasant in taste and is quite capable of replacing wine on the festive table.

Aronia wine prepared in a jar

chokeberry - 0.7 kg;
granulated sugar - 1 kg;
raisins - 100 g;
water - 0.5 l.

Cooking method:

Sort the berries and pour them into a clean three-liter jar.
Pour 0.3 kg of sugar, unwashed raisins into it, pour in water.
Close the jar with a nylon lid, making a small narrow hole in it with a knife. Put in a warm place.
Every day, mix the contents of the jar by tilting it and shaking it gently.
After a week, open, add 0.3 kg of sugar, mix, return the lid to its place.
Repeat the procedure after a week.
After another month, add the remaining sugar, close the jar again and do not touch it again until the berries sink to the bottom and the wine becomes transparent.
Pour the finished wine, strain and bottle.

This method of making wine from chokeberry at home will appeal to novice winemakers who did not have time to acquire large 20-liter containers.

Delicious are blended wines from chokeberry. For example, you can mix 2 parts of mountain ash and 1 part of currant. Other options are also possible. When making wine from mountain ash, there is an opportunity to show imagination and demonstrate your winemaking abilities.

Also called chokeberry, it is a branchy bush no more than two and a half meters high with white or light pink inflorescences, which bear fruit in September. Its berries have a unique composition, which is why it is used in folk medicine and cooking: for example, at home it can be both a treat and a potion. This drink is made from ripe, prepared berries, and alcohol or high-quality vodka is taken as the basis.

alcohol tincture

As already mentioned, tincture can be used both as a medicinal product and in the form of an alcoholic beverage. It is especially useful for hypertensive patients and people suffering from. For the preparation of this universal remedy, you will need berries that have reached the peak of ripening. This is important, since the fruits of the chokeberry are not rich in juice, and in the unripe ones it is not at all. For our recipe, 1 kilogram of berries is enough. It is better to take high-quality vodka as a basis, which is made from premium alcohol (0.5 liters is enough). You will also need 0.5 kg sugar, cherry leaves and cloves. Chokeberry tincture at home is prepared for a long time, although the process itself is quite simple.

Most of the time is spent defending it. So, washed and dried berries should be put into a pre-prepared (sterilized) bottle of 3-5 liters and crushed thoroughly by pouring a glass of water. The liquid is added to obtain juice, and so that the tincture itself is not too thick. Then add sugar and mix again. The result should be a homogeneous juicy mixture of a beautiful color. We tie the neck of the bottle with gauze folded in 2-3 layers, leave it for two days at room temperature. The next step is to add vodka. After its infusion, the mixture must be mixed well so that the sugar residues dissolve, close the lid and leave for 60 days in a dark place, such as a pantry or basement. Two months later, at home, it will be ready: this is evidenced by its color and consistency. It will be transparent, rich amber color. It is bottled and stored in the refrigerator.

Homemade chokeberry wine

For lovers of less strong alcoholic beverages, there is a simple recipe for a tasty and healthy drink. If you adhere to the cooking technology and proportions with precision, then in a couple of months after picking ripe fruits, you will please yourself and your guests with a fragrant and pleasant-tasting drink. To make wine, you need 5 kg of berries.

It is important not to wash them before use, as their skin contains bacteria that promote fermentation, and do not use metal containers. The berries must be thoroughly kneaded with your hands until a homogeneous mass is obtained. For every kilogram of berries you need to add half a glass of sugar. For lovers of sweet wines, this is not the norm, that is, you can add more. For better fermentation, a handful of raisins can be poured into this mass. The whole composition is thoroughly mixed, put into a 10-liter container with a wide neck, closed and left for 7-10 days in a warm place. All this time, once a day, you need to mix the pulp so that it does not become moldy. If foam appears when you dip your hand into the mixture, it's time to start squeezing the juice. To do this, the pulp is collected by hand and carefully squeezed. The cake is folded separately, it will come in handy, and the resulting juice is filtered through a colander and poured into a five-liter bottle. We mix the collected and squeezed pulp with sugar in a ratio of 1: 1, press it with our hands and leave it to ferment for another 5-7 days, and then squeeze and drain. Thus, we got two types of juice, which we mix, install a water seal on the bottle and leave. Every 2 days you need to do filtration: remove the resulting foam and pour the drink into another container using a hose, without touching the sediment. When it does not appear at the bottom, and the liquid itself becomes transparent, your wine is ready. It is bottled. Both wine and chokeberry tincture are stored at home in a cool place, such as a refrigerator or basement.

In vain, many consider chokeberry a useless berry. It contains a fairly large number of useful properties, substances and vitamins. The use of mountain ash helps to increase immunity, fight depression and high blood pressure, and has a positive effect on the endocrine system. You can make many healthy drinks from the berry, for example: juice, compote, wine, liquor, it will turn out very tasty and healthy.

The main thing is to follow a number of basic rules. Only then the wine from chokeberry will not be inferior to other alcoholic beverages.

To make wine, you need to know about some features of the berry. Firstly, it cannot be washed before use, as wild yeast is present on the skin, due to which the drink will ferment. Secondly, the berry should not overripe, otherwise the drink will be of dubious quality. Thirdly, they crush the chokeberry with their own hands. Fourth, you can not collect and use chokeberry in winemaking after rain. And finally, fifthly, metal utensils cannot be used to make wine. Wooden or glass containers are best suited for these manipulations.

Technology Features

It is quite possible to make wine from chokeberry at home if you know the basic technologies. So, let's look at them using the example of a classic recipe. To make wine, you need 5 kilograms of unwashed chokeberry, 2 kilograms of sugar, 100 grams of unwashed raisins and 1 liter of boiled water at room temperature. If you do not like raisins, you can exclude them from the recipe.

First you need to prepare the berry puree. After you get a homogeneous mass that looks like gruel, you need to transfer it to another container, which should be at least 10 liters in capacity. Sugar (half, that is, 1 kilogram) and raisins are poured into the bottle, everything is thoroughly mixed with gruel. The mass is covered with a lid and cleaned in a warm place for storage for a period of one week. However, the drink should be stirred daily.

After 7 days, they start winemaking, during which time the juice is separated from the cake and sediment. First you need to take the pulp and squeeze out the remaining juice from it. It is convenient to do this with a sieve or gauze. The juice must be filtered and transferred to a container where the wine will ferment. On top of the bottle, you will need to install a water seal or put a rubber glove on the neck.

Cake should be poured with boiled water and add the remaining sugar to the mass, mix everything thoroughly. The gruel should be transferred to a jar or any other container and closed, put in a dark, warm place for another week. We must not forget about mixing the mass. After a week, the cake is filtered. The liquid must be poured into the bottle where the fermentation process takes place. To do this, remove the glove and then close the bottle tightly again.

The last step in making wine is that the drink will need to be filtered every two days using a rubber hose. With it, the liquid is poured into a clean container, the neck is closed and removed again. The process is repeated as many times as necessary. Homemade blackberry wine will be ready when it stops fermenting and there is no sediment left in the bottle. The drink is bottled, closed and cleaned in a dark and warm place. The wine must mature within 3-4 months, after which it is completely ready for consumption.

Recipe with cinnamon

The technology for making wine from chokeberry with cinnamon is similar to the classic recipe. The only thing is that the ingredients change. In order to get a drink similar to liquor, you must:

vodka 1 bottle
chokeberry 5 kilograms
granulated sugar 4 kilograms
cinnamon 5 grams

Wine must be made according to the classic recipe, and when it is ready, mix it with vodka. It may take six months to mature. Such a wine will be quite strong, and differ in taste from those that are prepared without the addition of alcohol. Be sure to try this recipe, the wine is very tasty and not like those sold in the store.

Frozen berry recipe

You can also get a light, fragrant and pleasant-tasting wine from frozen berries. This will require:

chokeberry juice 4 l. (it is convenient to use a juicer or a meat grinder)
boiled water 4 l.
sugar 3 kg
raisins 150 gr

Before making wine from chokeberries, you need to prepare juice for it and let it stand at room temperature so that it warms up a little. Then you should mix the juice with sugar and water, mix. Add unwashed raisins, pour the drink into a container and close with a glove or water seal. It is necessary to wait until the wine ferments, free it from the sediment. Then the wine should be poured into clean bottles and close them with lids. The wine matures for 3-4 months in a cool dark place.

Recipe with grapes

Ingredients:

chokeberry 10 kilograms
sugar 4 kilograms
grapes 350 grams (wash, put in a colander)
boiled water 4 liters

In order to make wine with the addition of grapes, you will need to use the classic recipe. The technology is the same, but instead of raisins, crushed berries are mixed with grapes.

Recipe with apples

Apples can be used fresh or dried, this will not affect the taste. For cooking you will need:

chokeberry 5 kilograms
sugar - 2 kilograms
apples 500 grams
vodka 1 bottle of 0.5 liters (you can use diluted alcohol).

The wine is prepared again, according to the classic recipe, but after the end of fermentation, and after pressing the pulp, alcohol is added to the wine. If alcohol is used, then it is diluted in equal proportions 1: 1. After that, the drink is bottled and removed to mature in a dark place for several months.

Recipe with orange flavor

This wine is prepared in two ways. In the first, freshly squeezed orange juice is used, and in the second, the fruit with zest is turned through a meat grinder. In the first case, 300 grams of juice will be required, it is added immediately to the crushed berries. In the second, they take 3 medium oranges, wash them, cut them into slices and pass them through a meat grinder along with the skin. The resulting slurry is mixed with crushed aronia berries, they need 1.5 kilograms. Pour 1 liter of water into the mixture and add 1 kilogram of sugar, mix everything thoroughly and put the mass in a fermentation container. Then everything is done according to the classic recipe.

Wine is insisted on it, which then gives a very pleasant citrus aroma and taste. Homemade wine can be prepared with honey, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, currants and other berries. In any case, if you follow the technology, it will turn out very tasty.

Fortified drink recipe

Regular wine has a strength of 10-12 degrees, but you can make fortified wine, which will be appreciated by real gourmets. The cooking method is simple, but often winemakers recommend adding spices in small quantities to the recipe, so you can drown out the smell of vodka. Yeast is not used in this method.

You will need:

chokeberry 1 kilogram
vodka 0.5 liters
water 1 liter
citric acid - a pinch
cloves 3-4 pieces

Pour rowan into an enameled container, pour water and cook for half an hour over low heat. Do not wash off wild yeast from the surface of the berry. After the broth is left to stand for 12 hours, filtered using a sieve. After the time has elapsed, put the liquid back on fire, add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. After 5 minutes, you can turn off the gas. When the wine has cooled, it can be poured into glass containers. Such a drink is prepared quickly, it can be consumed immediately, it lowers blood pressure and normalizes metabolic processes in the body.

Homemade blackberry wine is not harmful if consumed in moderation. It is recommended to drink a tablespoon of the drink before eating. Excessive consumption is too dangerous and can detoxify the body. It can be dessert, fortified wine or tincture. The main thing is that it be prepared correctly and from ripe fruits.

You can choose to cook any step-by-step recipe. The wine will delight you with its exquisite taste, pleasant aroma and beautiful maroon hue.

Attention, only TODAY!

I found a very detailed description of making wine from chokeberry. Somehow I tried this with relatives, but I didn’t get the recipe. because they make wines from everything and by eye. And the drink was really great.

How many of us, dear friends, have paid attention to such a nondescript and seemingly useless berry as chokeberry, the ripening season of which begins in September? Frankly, I, too, was once indifferent to it, since "black-fruited" jams or jams never interested me. But one day in the country, looking at a bunch of these berries and remembering the amazing property of chokeberry to lower blood pressure, I thought.

Winemaking, due to the fact that my childhood was spent in regions rich not only in wine, but in table (which is also not bad) grape varieties, was familiar to me from now to now. Try to make wine from chokeberry on the principle of grape? Why not? And a few years ago I made wine from aronia, which in itself is very interesting in taste and especially attractive for some reason to women. Since then, every year I make several liters of chokeberry wine, as well as from blackcurrant. I advise you to do the same when the next harvest ripens.

First 7-12 days

There is a desire? Then, during the ripening season of chokeberry, we bring home ten to twelve kilograms of berries.

Washing them, as is sometimes advised, is not only useless, but also harmful. In addition, if someone is not aware of the wine processes, all the "dirt" in any case subsequently precipitates and will be removed in the process of several filtrations.

NB! Let's remember: washing the berries is almost guaranteed to result in the fact that yeast bacteria, the main "actors" in the preparation of wine, will be washed off their surface. For the same reason that these bacteria are usually killed at low temperatures, frozen (and subsequently thawed) berries are not suitable for winemaking.

We start by choosing a suitable container in which berries with juice will ferment at the first stage. This container must be made of either food-grade stainless steel, or with an enameled and undamaged coating, or glass.

NB! Plastic, especially aluminum or copper utensils, are categorically not suitable for winemaking.

Dishes made of wood will not be touched. This is a special story that needs to be painted separately and we don’t need it.

So, having picked up the dishes, conscientiously, kneading each berry, we will crush our "prey". I prefer to do it by hand, but it is absolutely not forbidden to crush the berry with the help of kitchen appliances, like an electric meat grinder or a processor.

We crush the berries carefully in the sense that we do not splash juice all over the apartment. If the juice is removed from the skin and solid objects without problems, then clothes, for example, can be irreparably damaged.

After crushing the berries, add sugar to them - at the rate of about half a glass per kilogram. These proportions can be reduced or increased, depending on what kind of wine we want to get. Absolutely dry wine, without sugar, from chokeberry turns out to be unimportant - sour and tart, since there is not enough sugar in the fruits themselves. In addition, the fermentation process without the presence of a "sweet death" is very slow. From a large amount of sugar, sweet wine is obtained - also an amateur. The proportions I propose are focused on dessert wine, - in my opinion and taste, what you need.

NB! In any case, it is better not to joke with the proportions of sugar. Yeast bacteria will still not be able to process its excess into alcohol, and sugar will precipitate, despite the fact that the excess “sweetness” of wine cannot be corrected by anything. The wine is sweetened, if necessary, using a special procedure at the final stage of preparation, which I will discuss below.

Thoroughly mix the poured sugar, not disdaining to run your hand deeper into the juice. Future wine loves the touch of human, and especially male palms.

This completes the first stage. It remains to cover the dishes with a lid, put in a relatively warm place (but not higher than 25 degrees) and let the mixture ferment for about a week, not forgetting to stir the juice and pulp from time to time so that, God forbid, mold does not appear.

NB! Mold can irreparably spoil the taste of future wine.

Second 7-12 days

After a week (sometimes more, which you should not be afraid of), the berries will float up and swell, and if you immerse your hand in the pulp, a foam characteristic of fermented juice will appear.

Well, now you need to work a little with both hands, choosing the pulp from the juice and squeezing it out as much as you can. I do not advise you to use juicers and other devices, except for the press, which you do not have. The juicer will be clogged after the second handful, and the juice yield will be negligible.

We put the squeezed pulp in a separate bowl, since the pulp will still be useful to us. Filter the juice through a regular colander. A trifle that has slipped through the holes will only stimulate the process of further maturation of the wine and, in the end, will be removed from there anyway.

Pour the strained juice into a suitable glass dish. As soon as we took 10-12 kg of berries as a starting point, two five-liter jars will be enough for us.

Now is the time to do the squeezed pulp. Here, my friends, there are two options. You can simply throw it away, left without unenriched wine and chemise with water paired with the original squeezed juice. Or - reuse the pulp. The fact is that wine from pure chokeberry juice turns out to be extremely thick, firstly. Secondly, it, at least, lacks a number of useful and tasty things from berries. That is why the remaining pulp should be allowed to ferment one more time, but with the addition of sugar and water, so that later, by adding a “second” portion of juice to the original one, our wine will be more airy and more saturated with chokeberry “ingredients”.

NB! Water in the preparation of fruit and berry wines, in addition to the above, has another important role - only with its help you can adjust the acidity of the future drink - so that it does not reduce the cheekbones from an excess of sour. Nothing else regulates this parameter of fruit and berry wine.

So, for the resulting amount of pulp, add about a glass of sugar and pour in a little more than a liter of water (based on the initial 10-12 kilograms of berries). The quality of water must be approached selectively: tap water is not suitable for these purposes. It is better to use proven bottled water or water from a well. And, of course, cold.

The resulting mass is thoroughly mixed, pressed so that the moisture rises above the pulp, close the lid and remove again for at least a week for subsequent fermentation.

Now we need to "equip" the fermented juice obtained after the first pressing of the pulp - for further fermentation, since it is undesirable to leave it in an open jar, in direct contact with atmospheric air.

Of course, at first, while active fermentation is going on, you can get by with temporary devices, such as a rubber glove in which holes are pricked with a needle, but later one way or another, such “devices” will have to be abandoned in favor of a water seal, because so far there is nothing better and more effective for home winemaking is not invented.

The simplest water seal can be done, for example, like this. In the center of the lid, which can then tightly close the jar of fermented juice, a hole is drilled (or punched) equal in diameter to the cross section of the outlet tube (hose).

The tube itself should then be pulled through the hole in the lid and something suitable to heat the tip of the tube, thus increasing its diameter so that it fits snugly in the hole.

That, in fact, is all. The lid - on the jar, the other end of the tube - in any suitable vessel with water. Thus, the contact of the future wine with the atmosphere will be minimal, the road is open to excess gas pressure, and there is no risk that the wine will "suffocate" from the same gases, which often happens when using a "hello to Gorbachev" - a rubber glove.

We put the jar with the future wine closed with a water seal in a dark cool (but not lower than 18 degrees) place for further full fermentation of the juice.

In the meantime, all subsequent days we carefully monitor the state of the pulp, which we mixed with water, by no means preventing the appearance of mold on the surface! In other words, we follow the pulp not as passive observers, but by stirring it daily and drowning the floating berries.

After a week or two of fermentation, without squeezing the pulp too much, let it free itself from a new portion of juice.

Pour the juice through a colander or strainer in several steps into an empty bowl, as before, not really caring that a large fraction of the pulp will slip through the mesh (this will not hurt the future wine).

Now we take out the jar where the first portion of juice played (and continues to play) with us, release the jar from the water seal and use a suitable spoon or strainer to remove the foam that has risen from the surface of the wine.

The second portion of the juice that we squeezed out of the pulp, of course, is mixed with the first portion of the juice, poured into jars, corked with a water seal and put in a dark, but not the coolest place to continue the process.

Third 7-12 days

At first (within a month), once a week, it will be necessary to remove the foam and film from the surface and filter the wine so that the sediment decreases every time after filtration. At first, this can be done by simply pouring wine into another vessel, without shaking the wine itself and trying not to drain the sediment after the wine. But after two weeks, you will have to resort to finer filtration, for which you will need a small and thin hose, with which, without lowering it to the bottom, you will simply need to drain the wine from container to container.

NB! At the same time, it is very useful (for the wine itself) that the jet of the poured drink be thin and, as they say, "long". In this way, the wine is ventilated, which corrects its qualities for the better and helps to avoid possible diseases or deterioration of the wine. This procedure does not have to be carried out with every filtration, but it is very desirable to resort to it at least once a month.

Another extremely desirable procedure is the periodic (at least once every two weeks after a month of vigorous fermentation) stimulation of the further growth of alcoholic yeast with nitrogen-containing "bait". To do this, winemaking usually uses an aqueous solution of ammonium chloride (sold in pharmacies as "ammonia") - literally a drop per liter of wine, followed by mixing the wine itself. This procedure enhances the vital activity of the bacteria we need, thereby preventing the fermentation from fading and, as a result, affecting the alcohol strength required for wine.

After the first month of wine fermentation, its periodic filtration can be increased by "every two weeks", each time removing and removing the sediment.

NB! Let's remember that the sediment at this stage of fermentation is not so harmless "dirt" as it might seem. Basically, it is a graveyard of bacteria that have done their job and died, and can seriously affect the taste of future wine.

With a decrease in sediment (that is, after one and a half to two months from the moment when we started making chokeberry wine), the wine itself will become transparent. Provided that all procedures were performed correctly. That is, the wine fermented under a water seal, it was timely filtered, ventilated and fed with wine bacteria, and, importantly, “wine hygiene” was observed - reusable dishes and inventory were thoroughly washed with baking soda and dried, and all necessary manipulations were carried out clean.

Transparency or, more correctly, clarification of wine is a sign that it is approaching the stage, albeit a young, but ready drink. At this stage, you can safely conduct its first tasting in order to understand how correctly the wine was formed, whether it is necessary to make any adjustments, while the fermentation process is still going on, albeit inconspicuously, and so on.

NB! The taste of the right young wine is usually more sour than sweet, although sweet notes should be felt in it. If sugar prevails in the taste, this deficiency should be corrected by airing the wine several times as described above. If the taste of the wine does not improve, therefore, you need to reassure yourself that nothing terrible has happened - just its final strength will be slightly lower than it could be, and the fermentation process has actually ended.

Sweetening the wine (after about 2 months after the start of its preparation)

After the wine has completely fermented - that is, it becomes transparent to the light, and at the same time only a slight coating will form on the bottom of the dish, you can start sweetening it, focusing on your own perception of sweetness. In order to sweeten a sour-tasting young wine to the "condition" of dessert, a tablespoon of sugar per liter of drink is usually enough. The proportion of sugar can be reduced or increased - respectively, the drink will turn out to be more or less sweet.

Sugar should never be mixed into wine in the manner of sweetening tea or coffee. This is done differently. A measured portion of sugar is placed either in a cotton bag or on a cotton cloth.

A bag of sugar (or a cloth collected in a bag) should be tied at the neck with a suitable twine and lowered into a container with wine so that the bag is completely immersed in the wine, while remaining as close as possible to the surface of the wine itself. The twine will need to be fixed and a container of wine under a water seal until the sugar is completely dissolved. It usually takes about a week, after which it remains to make sure that the sugar has dissolved and remove the makeshift bag from the wine.

A young drink can either be bottled or left in the same container where the sugar was dissolved, covering the wine with a suitable lid (or cork) so as not to close it tightly. Usually only newly born drinks are prone to post-fermentation with a barely noticeable release of carbon dioxide. Tightly closed, but not fermented, wine can sometimes not only squeeze out the lid, but also smash the bottle to shreds. In a word, at first you need to be careful and cautious, and start tightly corking containers with wine only when you are convinced that it has completely fermented. Well, tasting, of course. Even in such an unripe form, chokeberry wine is a wonderful thing! And the yield from 10-12 kilograms of chokeberry is not bad - 6-7 liters of the drink.

How to make homemade wine from chokeberry. The best chokeberry wine recipes: good for any feast! Step-by-step preparation of homemade blackberry wine with cherry leaf