I’m not going to lie. I wouldn’t know a gooseberry from a hole in the ground. But such is the adventure of wine-making. It’s the thrill of the unknown. And it’s all at your fingertips.

Ingredients:

2 ½ lb Gooseberries

7 pts Water

2 ¼  lb Sugar

½ tsp Pectic Enzyme

1  tsp Nutrient

1 Campden, crush

1 pkg Wine Yeast

Starting S.G. 1.080-85

FYI: All the above ingredients can be purchased in one convenient package at letsmakefoodandwine.com!

Method:

1. Use firm ripe berries for the still wine and slightly greener berries for the “Sparkle” wine. Wash, sort out blemished or moldy berries, and drain water. The juice is hard to press. Using nylon straining bag mash and strain out juice into primary fermentor. Keeping all pulp in bag, tie top, and place in primary.
2. Stir in all other ingredients except yeast. Cover primary.
3. After 24 hrs., add yeast. Cover primary.
4. Stir daily and check Specific Gravity. Press pulp lightly to add in extraction.
5. When ferment reaches S.G. of 1.030 (about 5 days) strain juice from bag. Syphon wine off sediment into glass jug secondary. Attach airlock.
6. When ferment is complete (S.G. has dropped to 1.000—about 3 weeks) syphon off sediment into clean secondary. Reattach lock. Syphon again in 2 months and again if necessary until clear before bottling.

Varieties:

Currants and Gooseberries (Ribes L.) are closely related. Pixwell or Oregon Champion are good kinds to try. They do host pine blister rust, so consult nursery.

Tags: gooseberries, wine

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