Winemaking lessons: how to make wine from cherries

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Wine is one of the most beloved alcoholic beverages among women. It is not as strong as cognac, rum or whiskey, does not intoxicate the mind and is easy to drink. A glass of good wine perfectly complements a delicious dinner and allows you to relax a little after a busy day. Today, there is a huge selection of a wide variety of drinks on sale, but we cannot always be sure of their quality. That is why it will be useful to learn how to make wine from cherries yourself. In fact, this process is not so complicated, and everyone can feel like a winemaker, there would be a desire. Why cherries and not grapes? The fact is that this berry grows almost everywhere in our country. Well, grapes are still a heat-loving plant and require more careful care. In addition, cherry wine is less common in stores, and its taste is not inferior to traditional grape wine.

Before making wine from cherries, you need to familiarize yourself with several of its features. So, for its preparation, one berry juice will not be enough. Still, cherries are less sweet than grapes, and therefore the finished product may turn out sour. Therefore, the recipe must containsugar, which increases not only the sweetness, but also the strength of the drink. In addition, water is used to reduce acidity.

So, how to make cherry wine at home? The whole process should be divided into several stages:

• wort is being prepared;
• top and bottom fermentation (violent);
• fermentation is quiet, the removal of wine from the sediment;
• final maturation of the drink;
• bottling and storage.

So, the first stage. We take a large container (if there is a barrel, then excellent) and pour berries into it. Tails and bones (you can leave a few pieces to add astringency) should be removed first. Now a very exciting process begins - crushing the berries. You can do this with your hands or with a pusher. Then add sugar and water. We mix. This mixture is called "wort".

According to the classical method of preparation, the same amount of water and 3 kilograms of sugar are taken per bucket of cherries. If you want a light table wine, the recipe will be different: for the same number of berries, take 2 kilograms of sugar, 2 liters of water and a little (3 grams) of citric acid.

Now the container with the future alcoholic drink should be covered with a lid and left in a dark place to ferment for a month. It must be stirred twice a day so that instead of wine you do not get vinegar. However, you should not open it more often either - excess air will get in. A week after the start of fermentation from the surface of the winemasses need to remove the pulp (so as not to deteriorate). The final stage will come in 30-45 days. The wine needs to be filtered and bottled.

And how to make wine from fortified cherries? The algorithm is almost the same, but after squeezing the must, you need to add wine yeast to it and leave for 10 days. Then the precipitate is removed, sugar and alcohol are added, and it is still aged for another 10 days. The wine is then filtered and bottled. In this case, the proportions are as follows (for a 10-liter bucket of berries):

• sugar - 2 kilos;
• water - 2 liters;
• alcohol - half a liter;
• yeast - a teaspoon.

Now that you know how to make wine from cherries yourself, there is no need to buy a store-bought product of dubious quality. A good reason to show off your winemaking skills and, of course, treat your family and friends with real home-made wine.