Dogwood wine at home

Dogwood wine is fragrant, with an indescribable original taste. To prepare such a drink, you will need dried, frozen, and best of all fresh dogwood berries. Raw materials for alcoholic beverages must be of high quality and free of rot. The container in which the drink will be made should be washed with hot water and wiped dry with a clean towel.

Useful properties of dogwood wine

Cornelian wine made at home is an original drink. Such wine is not intended for senseless consumption, but is more suitable for true connoisseurs of delicious alcoholic beverages. In addition to excellent taste and rich aroma with a unique aftertaste, dogwood wine also has useful properties:

• lowers body temperature;
• cleanses the bronchi;
• beneficial effect on the cardiovascular and digestive systems;
• in small doses with prolonged use, wine stops the development of colds and prevents the occurrence of infections;
• strengthens the immune system, has a tonic effect;
• removes toxins from the body, reduces inflammation in the body.

Among other things, the drink is low-calorie, which is an additional positive quality when drinking the drink for preventive purposes.

Secrets of making cornelian wine

To make wine from dogwood at home, it is necessary to choose not rotten, ripe berries, even slight damage to the dogwood berry can ruin the entire drink, for this reason the material must be sorted out with great care.

For a drink, it is best to use not fallen, but fruits collected from a tree, this can also affect the quality of the wine. Experienced winemakers know that wild yeast colonies grow on grapes, which start the fermentation process. There are much fewer of these organisms on dogwood, therefore, in order for fermentation to proceed at the proper level, it is necessary to use raisins. Although, to start fermentation, you can use not only raisins, but also yeast or sourdough.

To prepare the wort, the berries must be mashed. Technical means are not suitable for this, as there is a chance to damage the bone, and this will spoil the taste of the drink. Therefore, it is better to knead the berries with your hands, or remove the seeds before cooking. Sugar must be added to the wort in stages, thanks to which the fermentation process will proceed smoothly and smoothly. The sweetness and strength of the drink is regulated at the stage of sending the drink for aging.

Dogwood wine can take three to four months to make, and the finished wine can be stored for at least four years in a cool place. In order for the drink to infuse correctly, you will need a water seal or a rubber glove with a puncture. What is one, what is another device will help the fermentation process to proceed correctly. All wine containers must be washed and treated with either boiling water or soda, this will prevent the process of souring the finished drink.

Classic dogwood wine recipe

Making dogwood wine according to the classic recipe is quite simple, the drink turns out to be fragrant and will be appreciated by real gourmets. Ingredients needed for crafting:

• dogwood – 2 kg;
• purified water – 2,5 l;
• granulated sugar – 600 g;
• a handful of raisins or 50 g of wine yeast.

Step-by-step recipe for making cornelian wine:

1. Before you start working with berries, you need to make a leaven 3-4 days in advance. If wine yeast is used for cooking, then this step is skipped. For sourdough, raisins are placed in a bottle, it is necessary to fill it with 10 g of sugar and 50 g of water. The container must be covered with gauze and placed for 3-4 days in a warm, dark place. As soon as foam appears, the sourdough is ready.
2. Raisins should be washed and carefully crushed with a rolling pin or spoon, being careful not to damage the stone.
3. Mix 1,5 g of sugar in 250 liters of water and boil the syrup, bring to a boil and cook for no more than 5 minutes, removing the foam that forms on the surface.
4. Pour dogwood berries with hot syrup into a container with a wide neck, an enamel pan is perfect. After no more than 15 minutes, pour a liter of unboiled cold water. Mix everything thoroughly and let cool to room temperature.
5. The next step is to add sourdough or wine yeast, also mix thoroughly.
6. The container must be placed in a dark place where the temperature should be around 20–25 °C. Top with gauze.
7. After a few days, the wort will begin to ferment, a characteristic smell, foam and hiss will appear. After that, the berries should be filtered, as they are no longer needed.
8. Introduce 150 g of sugar into the fermented juice, mix and pour the must into a fermentation container. The container should be no more than 3 quarters full.
9. Install a water seal or a prepared rubber glove on the neck. Check tightness carefully.
10. Move the container with the wort to a dark place with a temperature of 20-25 ° C.
11. After 4-5 days, add 100 g of sugar. To do this, take up to 300 g of juice and stir sugar in it. Pour the syrup back. After 3-4 days, the entire procedure with sugar must be repeated.
12. After 25–60 days, the fermentation process will stop, sediment will form at the bottom, and the must will brighten. Drain the cornelian wine into another container, without sediment from the bottom.
13. The resulting drink can be slightly sweetened and, if desired, made stronger using vodka, the taste will become worse in this case, but the strength will increase and it will be stored longer.
14. Pour the drink into bottles under the neck and leave for storage, periodically (once a month) removing the sediment, after the sediment stops forming, delicious dogwood wine is ready.

Store the finished drink in a cool place. The shelf life of such wine is from 4-6 years.

Homemade dogwood wine with honey

The recipe for dogwood wine with honey is simple and unique in taste. For cooking you will need:

• prepared dogwood – 3 kg;
• pure water – 4,5 l;
• granulated sugar – 1 kg;
• wine yeast – 50 g;
• honey – 500 g.

The procedure for making wine from dogwood is as follows:

1. Unwashed dogwood must be kneaded in any convenient way and placed in a container in which the drink will be made. Berries should be covered with 500 g of sugar and set aside until juice appears.
2. Bring 1 liter of water to a boil and pour over the berries. Mix the mass well and leave to cool.
3. When the berry mixture is cooled, you need to pour in the yeast and mix thoroughly. The container must be covered with gauze and left for 3 days at room temperature for fermentation.
4. After 3 days, the wort must be filtered, the berries are squeezed out and the liquid is again poured into the bottle.
5. The remaining amount of water should be slightly heated on the stove, combined with sugar and honey. Mix liquid with sweeteners thoroughly until completely dissolved. The resulting syrup must be mixed with dogwood juice.
6. Install a water seal or medical glove on the bottle, and place the container in a dark place.
7. After the fermentation process is completed, you need to leave the drink for 3 days to rest. After that, the must must be filtered and bottled for storage, in order to avoid contact of the wine with air, the bottles should be filled to the very top.

Homemade classic wine is ready to drink. With proper storage, the drink can be stored for 3-4 years without loss of taste and quality.

Sweet dogwood wine recipe

The recipe for sweet dogwood wine is no different from other recipes, and such wine is made in the same way as according to the classic recipe. The whole secret is that after the wine is cooked, it will be necessary to add sugar to it and hold it under a water seal for another 5–10 days. Then remove the sediment and cork for storage.

Dogwood wine without yeast

The recipe for dogwood wine without the use of yeast looks exactly the same as the recipe for homemade dogwood wine with honey, only without the use of wine yeast, which is played by either raisins or other unwashed raspberries or grapes. On the surface of these berries live colonies of wild yeast, which do an excellent job of starting the fermentation process. This wine is tastier and more aromatic.

Recipe for homemade dogwood wine with grapes and lemon

And again, a recipe is obtained that is practically no different from the classic one, only for the sourdough you will need a bunch of grapes weighing at least 100 g. Based on it, make a sourdough (recipe above). And at the stage of the second addition of sugar to the syrup, you need to add the juice of one lemon, after which everything is done in exactly the same way. After 50 days, fermentation will stop and the wine can be bottled. Such a drink has more beneficial properties for the cardiovascular system and will rightfully occupy a leading position in the wine collection of a real gourmet.

How to make dogwood wine with raisins

All recipes for making wine from dogwood without the use of wine yeast involve the use of raisins, which do an excellent job of starting the fermentation process. Raisins are the best product to replace yeast. Since on its surface the highest content of wild yeast. For this reason, any wine in which yeast is replaced with raisins will not only not lose, but in some positions it will even be better.

Terms and rules for the storage of dogwood wine

Dogwood wine, like any other, must be stored in a dark, cool place. In order for time not to spoil its taste, it is possible to remove the newly formed precipitate from the finished drink once a year. The shelf life of dogwood wine is 4-6 years, but, as practice shows, such a valuable drink does not last that long.

Conclusion

Dogwood wine is a very tasty and healthy drink, provided that it is not abused. Any winemaker and connoisseur of delicious and noble wines will appreciate this drink. This wine goes well with meat, fish and seafood. Dogwood wine can be safely put at the head of drinks on any holiday table. The process of making wine from dogwood is presented in the video.