Home-made wines may be manufactured from almost any kind of fruit; and they are divided into two kinds, viz. those made with cold water, and those made with hot water.
Fig. 5. Fruit-crusher.
Green Gooseberry wine is made in the first manner, by crushing the fruit in a deep tub with a fruit-crusher (fig. 5.), and pouring cold water on it, in the proportion of one gallon of water to ten pounds of fruit. It is then left to stand about six hours, when the mass, or marc, as it is called, is put into a coarse bag and pressed; more water is afterwards poured over the marc, which is again pressed, till as much water has been added as will make the proportion in all four gallons of water to ten pounds of fruit. The marc is then thrown away, and to every gallon of the liquor, or must, as it is called, three pounds of lump sugar are added, and the whole is well stirred together; the tub is afterwards covered with a blanket, and the wine is left to ferment in a temperature of from 55° to 60°. In twelve hours, if the fermentation has begun rapidly, or in twenty-four hours, if it is slow, the liquor is put into a cask and left to ferment, the bung being put in loosely, and the cask being kept filled up with fresh must as it works off. When the hissing noise subsides, the bung is driven in firmly, and a little hole is made in the head of the cask, near the bung, which is stopped with a wooden peg. In two or three days this peg is loosened to let any air out that may have been generated; and this is repeated, at intervals, several times, till no more air escapes, when the peg is driven in tight. An excellent wine may be made in a similar manner of the stalks of the giant tart rhubarb, which, if old, should be peeled and cut in pieces before they are crushed.
Ripe Gooseberry wine is made with hot water; first crushing the fruit, and, after letting it stand twenty-four hours, pressing the juice through a linen cloth. Hot water is then poured over the marc, in the proportion of two quarts of water to every gallon of the fruit before it was crushed; and, after remaining in the tub twelve hours, the marc is again pressed, and the liquor from it mixed with that produced by the fruit. Two and a half or three pounds of lump sugar should now be added to every gallon of the liquor, and the whole left to ferment. If moist sugar be used, the quantity should be four pounds to every gallon of the liquor. The rest of the process is the same as before; but when the fermentation has ceased it is usual to add British brandy, in the proportion of one quart to two gallons and a half of the wine.
When Currant wine is made, it is said to be best to boil the liquor after the sugar is added, before fermenting it in the cask.
Elderberry wine is generally made with moist sugar, and ginger and other spices are added to it.
Cowslip wine is made by boiling sugar and water together, and pouring the liquor over the rind of lemons and Seville oranges, in the proportion of four of these fruits to a gallon of sugar and water: the juice of the oranges and lemons is added, and the whole is fermented with yeast. The cowslip flowers are then put into the wine, in the proportion of one quart to every gallon of liquor, and stirred up well till they sink. When the wine is tunned, a few sprigs of sweet briar are often put into the cask, and one ounce of isinglass for every gallon of liquor; in a few days it is bunged up close. In six months it will be fit to bottle; but it will be better for remaining longer in the cask.
Any other kind of wine may be made when the wine is to be made of English fruit, either as was directed for the green or the ripe gooseberry wines; and when not made of English fruit, by boiling sugar and water, and fermenting it, before adding the substance that is to give the flavour as directed for the Cowslip wine.