Cranberry Wine, Rhubarb Wine, Dandelion Wine...

The fun thing about our annual family homemade Christmas exchange is that we get to work on it all year! Last fall we froze about 40 pounds of cranberries and 20 pounds of grapes, and I also had about 10 pounds of frozen rhubarb left from my annual May harvest (all this fruit was locally grown and at no cost to us). As we were thinking of the gift exchange, we also wondered what to do with all this fruit?

About a year ago we took a winemaking class (a gift from my friend H) at a local winery called Cap N' Corks and we learned how to make wine from a juice-based wine kit (not from whole fruit). Here are some pictures of the wine we bottled (green apple) and a couple other flavors we purchased from the winery.

As part of the class, we received an instruction book with a lot of information and helpful tips about the winemaking process. The instructor also told us that he likes to make wine in the spring from last season's leftover frozen fruit. The freezing process breaks down the cell walls of the fruit, making it easier for the fruit to break down and release its juices.

Wines bottled and purchased at Cap N' Corks, winemaking instruction book from the workshop

Green apple wine that we bottled during the class

Even if you do nothing more with your wine skills after this day, the class is fun. You get to drink alot of wine. A lot. Thus, the empty bottles.

Empty bottles of wine...consumed during winemaking class!

We figured why not put our very novice winemaking skills to use and start some wine that we can bottle and give in the gift exchange? Perhaps I will give a sampler of bottled wine and Chuck will design and build his own wine rack! We invested in the winemaking kit at Cap N' Corks (about $130) that comes with most of the equipment you need, including a recipe book for making wine from juice and whole fruit.

Here are some pictures of the process we followed to start some cranberry wine.

Starting with about 18 pounds of frozen cranberries that we washed and sorted

The "must" -- a solution that includes the mashed cranberries in the mesh bag submerged in a solution of water, sugar, and other ingredients called for in the recipe

This five gallon food-safe container holds the "must" and is known as the "primary fermenter"

Adding the yeast mixture to the "must" (cranberry wine is difficult to get going so most recipes recommend that you start your yeast separately and add it to the "must" after 24-48 hours)

Checking the specific gravity of the wine using a hydrometer. The specific gravity measures the potential amount of alcohol that can be created as the yeast eats the sugar

The "must" after several days: the yeast is working because the must has become frothy

Starting to look more like wine...

The wine is being "racked" -- siphoned from the primary fermenter into a glass carboy where it will sit for 2-3 months before it is racked again, and eventually bottled

Five gallons of cranberry wine!

Five gallons of rhubarb wine, just racked

At this wine workshop the instructor also introduced us to dandelion wine, which was absolutely delicious. We went right home and picked enough dandelions for one gallon of dandelion wine. This was a whole day project that turned our fingers yellow...at that point we were too tired to start the wine and promptly threw the three quarts of dandelion petals in the freezer. So after a year, we have finally started our dandelion wine. It better be good, because I don't think either of us will be picking dandelion petals again!

Harvesting three quarts of dandelion petals for ONE GALLON of dandelion wine