Peach wine at home – 4 easy-to-follow recipes

Homemade peach wine is a delicious drink that retains the health benefits of a seasonal delicacy and its recognizable taste. This is a very light and drinkable wine, which is pleasant to sip on a hot day, lying in a hammock. It’s also a great drink for endless winter evenings when you urgently need a taste of summer, a reminder that this summer will soon be back. Making peach wine is not at all easy, but we know a couple of secrets.

Peaches are not ideal for winemaking – there is little sugar, few acids, no tannins at all, and a large amount of pectins interferes with the extraction of juice and clarification of the must. Because of this, the wine often turns out to be tasteless, watery and almost unsuitable for storage and aging.

But winemaking is a flexible process, and winemakers are resourceful people. You can always take a number of actions that will remove or at least minimize the shortcomings of any raw material. And emphasize all its advantages. With peach wine, this is done very simply: the missing sugar is replenished with sugar (cap!), acids with acids (twice cap!), tannins with tannins (three times cap!), and pectin enzyme will help with extraction of juice and clarification.

With sugar, it is clear whether ordinary white or cane sugar will do, fructose or dextrose is better. Acid: liquor store acid mix, citric acid, or even better, strained lemon juice (for 10 liters of wine, about 5 tablespoons of juice or 2,5 medium lemons). Tannins: grape tannin from a liquor store, oak chips (0,5-4 g / 1 liter for 5-10 days) or, even better and easier, strong black tea (for 10 liters of wine 3-4 tsp. flavored black tea brewed in 100-200 ml of water). The pectin enzyme increases the yield of juice, improves extraction and contributes to faster clarification of wine – about 10-1,25 tsp is needed for 2 liters of wine.

Not ready to deal with the shortcomings of your favorite fruits? Don Anointed juicy and expertly described as many as five recipes for peach liqueurs that you can try soon or even NOW!

Well, only the yeast remained. Forget about savages. There are many of them on the surface of peaches, but there are even more other “passengers” that can seriously compete with wild yeast. For the same reason, do not be too lazy to order Campden tablets to drop off all these “passengers”. And for the same reason, do not use overripe fruits that are often dotted with dark spots (all dark and rotting spots from peaches must be cut off) – the risk of must infection will increase, and the wine may acquire not the most pleasant flavors.

So wine yeast: Lalvin ICV-D47 or EC-1118, Red Star, Vintners Harvest CY17, Champagne or Sauternes yeast. In other words, any wine yeast that develops a clean, fruity flavor profile that is alcohol tolerant and capable of fermenting under difficult conditions. Yeast nutrition from the same liquor store will be a good help for them.

Basic Homemade Peach Wine Recipe

A simple, understandable, classic recipe for peach wine with a predictably good result if the technology and perfect sterility are observed. The result: a beautiful, drinkable, light, dry wine with a clean peach taste, just right for hot summer days. The ingredients are given for 18-19 liters of wine (20 liters secondary fermenter).

Technology:

1. Prepare peaches: rinse with cold water, remove dark spots, remove pits. Finely chop the fruits along with the peel and place in the primary fermenter. The use of mechanical grinders, such as a blender or food processor, is not recommended – the wine may turn out bitter.
2. In the primary fermentation tank, add about 15 liters of water (may be slightly warmed), half the sugar, acid mixture or lemon juice, tannin or strongly brewed black tea, yeast food and 5 crushed Campden tablets. Mix well, cover the fermenter with a clean cloth and leave for 12 hours in a cool place.
3. Add pectin enzyme, mix thoroughly and wait another 12 hours. Add yeast (it is desirable to make a yeast starter), cover the fermenter with a clean cloth and leave in a warm, dark place for 5-7 days for rapid fermentation. Twice a day, the wort must be stirred so that the hat from the pulp does not turn sour.
4. When violent fermentation subsides, which usually occurs 5-7 days after the addition of yeast, strain the wort through a cheesecloth or nylon bag into a clean fermenter, squeeze the pulp thoroughly. If necessary, add water to a total volume of 18-19 liters. Add the second half of the sugar, mix thoroughly until it is completely dissolved, install a water seal and send the wine to ferment in a dark, cool place.
5. Every 3-4 weeks, the wine must be removed from the sediment until it is completely clarified. When the drink is completely clear and your wine hydrometer does not detect sugar in it (0^о Plato/SG 990-0.998), you can start stabilizing and bottling it.
6. Stabilization: remove the wine from the sediment and dissolve 5 Campden tablets in it (we recommend reading the material on the advisability of treating homemade wines with sulfur dioxide, in general, this step can be skipped). At this stage, the wine can be sweetened. The sulfur-stabilized drink should be poured into a clean fermenter at the very neck, a water seal should be installed and left in a cool place for 35-45 days.
7. Bottling: after 35-45 days of additional stabilization, remove the homemade peach wine for the last time, remove from the sediment and pour into clean, sterile bottles with appropriate closures. Wait at least 6 months before tasting!

If for some reason the wine does not clear up after 3-4 months of quiet fermentation, try fining it in any suitable way, described in our material on the clarification of house wines.

By itself, peach wine is good, but it lacks body, fullness of taste, which can and even needs to be increased by another ingredient. To do this, you can use high-quality raisins, bananas or concentrated grape juice, which has recently become a familiar position in most themed stores.

Peach and raisin wine

Rinse the peaches under running cold water, remove the darkened heel and, without peeling, thinly slice into slices, discarding the pit. Place the pulp in the primary fermentation tank, add the crushed raisins and half the sugar. Pour 2,5 liters of boiling water, mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved, cover with a clean cloth and leave to cool to room temperature. Add cold water to 9,5-10 liters total wort, juice from 2,5 large lemons and crushed Campden tablets. Cover with a cloth and leave for 12 hours in a cool place. Add pectin enzyme and wait another 12 hours. Add yeast nutrition and yeast prepared in advance according to the instructions.

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After adding the yeast, cover the fermenter with a cloth and leave the wort to ferment in a warm, dark place for 5 days, stirring the wort twice a day. Then strain, squeeze thoroughly, add the second half of the sugar, mix well and install a water seal. Remove the fermenter to a cool place until visible signs of fermentation stop. At the end of fermentation, add water to 9,5-10 liters and every 3 weeks remove the wine from the sediment until it is completely clarified. When the sediment stops appearing within 2-3 weeks, pour the drink into clean, sterile bottles and cork. You can drink it right away, but the best quality peach wine with raisins will pick up after 6-12 months of aging.

Homemade peach wine with bananas

Peel bananas, cut into slices, boil for 20 minutes in 2,5 liters of water and strain without squeezing. At the same time, prepare the peaches according to the instructions in the previous recipes, place the pulp in the primary fermenter, add half the sugar and 3 liters of boiling water. Steep until sugar is completely dissolved, cool, add banana juice, citric acid, crushed Campden tablets and enough cold water to make a total wort volume of 9,5-10 liters. Cover the fermenter with a cloth, wait 12 hours, add pectin enzyme, wait another 12 hours. Add yeast nutrition, yeast, cover the fermenter with a clean cloth and leave to ferment in a dark, warm place for 3-4 days, stirring the wort twice a day.

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When violent fermentation subsides, strain the wort through several layers of gauze or a nylon bag, squeeze out the pulp well and pour into a clean fermenter. Add half of the remaining sugar, mix until it is completely dissolved, install a water seal and send to ferment in a dark, cool place. After 5 days, add the remaining sugar, mix, install a water seal and leave alone until visible signs of fermentation stop. Top up with water up to 9,5-10 liters of total volume and under the water seal. Every three weeks, remove young wine from the sediment until it is completely clarified. When the sediment stops appearing within 3-4 weeks, pour the drink into bottles and cork. Wait at least 3-6 months before tasting.

Peach wine with grape concentrate

To boil water. Prepare the peaches according to previous recipes, place the pulp in a nylon bag, hang the bag in the primary fermenter, mash it well to extract the maximum juice, leaving all the pulp in the bag. Dissolve sugar in boiling water and pour hot syrup over peaches. Add grape concentrate, cool, add acid mixture, yeast nutrition, tannin and crushed Campden tablets. Wait 12 hours, add pectin enzyme and wait another 12 hours.

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Add yeast, cover the fermenter with a cloth and send for vigorous fermentation in a dark, warm place for 10 days. Every day the wort must be stirred. After ten days of rapid fermentation, remove the nylon bag with peach pomace, let it drain, do not wring. Pour the wort into a clean fermenter, install a water seal and send to ferment in a cool dark place. Remove from the sediment every 30 days until completely clarified. When the sediment does not appear within 1-2 months, the wine is bottled and corked. You can start tasting at any time, but only after the mandatory 3 months of aging. Ready!