Wine from oranges at home – 3 best recipes

Orange wine is very popular in North America, in Florida, where there are as many orange groves as we have birch trees. The local people on an industrial scale use all available citrus fruits in winemaking, thanks to which you can find such masterpieces as orange-chocolate wine (Cocoa Beach), citrus champagne (Cracker Hammock Grapefruit), orange-coffee wine (Midnight Sun), etc. d. Citrus juice ferments well, and after fermentation, the wine turns out to be very fragrant and beautiful. Dry orange wine is somewhat reminiscent of sherry, so it is better to buy sherry yeast for it (consult any wine shop).

It’s fun! During their early development, all citrus fruits, including oranges, have green skins. In the tropics, they remain green even after maturation. In cold climates, the loss of chlorophyll causes the green color of the peel to fade (even a lime, if allowed to ripen in a cold climate, will turn yellow over time). Oranges from tropical countries are sent to us with a green peel, but during transportation they ripen and become what we see them on the shelves.

What is prepared in the West (and citrus wine is made not only in the USA) is very different from what is prepared here. For some reason, our winemakers believe that orange juice should be used in its pure form or diluted with water very sparingly (no more than 10-15%). There is logic in this, because the acidity of most fruits is in order, but oranges are not the cheapest delicacy even in the high season, so water can significantly increase the yield of the drink, while maintaining its unique fruity taste. All three recipes below have been tested and appreciated by experienced winemakers, so it’s up to you to decide. If cooking with pure juice, simply add 10-15% water, as well as 250-300 g of sugar for each liter of juice (average sugar content of oranges is 11%), then follow the instructions of any recipe below.

Otherwise, making wine from oranges is very simple, and the process itself is not much different from making any fruit and berry wine, the recipes of which we have already accumulated a decent amount (perhaps, the technology is described in more detail in the recipe for apple wine, so I recommend it for study ). I strongly advise you to pay attention to the third recipe – the bomb!

Oranges began to be cultivated in China 4,5 thousand years ago. They were brought to Europe by Portuguese navigators in the 14th century. Since then, these citrus fruits have never gone out of style. Next, you will learn how to make orange wine at home. It turns out a delicious original drink of a yellowish color.

To make wine from oranges, you can take fruits of any variety. The main thing is that they are ripe, juicy and not spoiled (without mold and rotten parts). Due to the high acidity and lack of wild yeast, oranges require a special approach, so I advise you to follow the recipe exactly.

Ingredients:

• oranges – 8-10 kg;
• sugar – 150 grams per liter of juice;
• water – 30 ml per liter of juice.

Orange wine recipe

1. Make wine sourdough according to one of the recipes. By itself, orange juice may not ferment because there is no wild yeast on the fruit. Adding starter ensures normal fermentation. An alternative option is to add wine yeast, which is sold in many stores.

2. After the starter is ready, wash the oranges thoroughly, peel and squeeze the juice using any available method.

3. Mix the resulting orange juice, pomace and water in a container with a wide neck. Add sugar (75 grams / liter of juice) and sourdough (wine yeast). Then mix well, bandage the neck with gauze and put the container in a dark place with a temperature of 18-25 ° C. Stir the wort once a day with a wooden stick or a clean hand.

4. After 3-4 days, foam will appear on the surface, a sour smell, and the pomace will float to the top. This means that the fermentation has successfully begun and you can proceed to the next stage.

5. Strain the wort through 2-3 layers of gauze. Squeeze the pulp (hard part) through cheesecloth to squeeze out all the remaining juice. The pulp is no longer used in the preparation of orange wine.

6. Add another portion of sugar (25 grams per liter) to the juice, mix and pour into a fermentation tank.

7. Install a water seal of any design. Transfer the bottle to a dark warm (18-25°C) room for active fermentation.

8. After 3 days, add the next 25 grams of sugar per liter of juice. To do this, open the water seal, drain 1 liter of juice, dissolve sugar in it. Pour the resulting syrup back into the bottle and close the water seal.

9. After another 3 days, add the last portion of sugar (25 grams / liter) according to the technology described in the previous step.

10. After 45-60 days from the date of installation of the water seal, fermentation will stop (the wine will brighten, sediment will form at the bottom, the shutter will stop bubbling). It’s time to drain the wine from the sediment through a thin tube into another clean container. It is very important not to touch the sediment at the bottom so that the drink does not become cloudy.

Young orange wine is sharp in taste and gives a little mash, but this sharpness will disappear during aging.

11. Close the container with wine tightly (or install a water seal) and transfer it to a dark room with a temperature of 10-16 ° C, for example, in a refrigerator or cellar. After 1-2 months of exposure, drain from the sediment and hold for another 2-4 months. The transfusion removes the sharpness of the taste.

12. Drain the wine again from the sediment, pour into bottles and seal tightly with corks. Store in refrigerator or basement. The taste only gets better with time. Shelf life – up to 3 years. The result is approximately 3 liters of dry homemade orange wine with a delicate original taste and a yellow transparent color.

PS Thanks for the recipe to user Alexander M., who tested it in practice and shared photos of the finished wine.

Orange Wine Recipe (American)

Only overripe oranges are suitable (they are usually given away cheaply, the main thing is that they are mold-free, but the darkened areas, which often indicate the ripeness of fruits, are only good for us). Peel the oranges, get rid of the white core, remove all the seeds. Use the juicer to extract the maximum amount of orange juice. Mix the juice with sugar, tannin and yeast feed (if you decide to use them) in a fermentation tank, pour it all over with 2 liters of boiling water. Mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved, and then bring the volume of the wort to 3,8 liters with room temperature water. Let it cool down.

When the wort temperature drops to 22-24^оC, add wine yeast prepared in advance according to the instructions. Install a water seal on the fermentation tank and leave the wort to ferment in a dark, warm place for 7-10 days. When vigorous fermentation is complete, drain the young wine through several layers of gauze to filter out large particles (mostly orange pulp), and then transfer it to a clean fermentation tank. Install a water seal and send the wine to ripen in a cool place for 3 months, remembering to drain it from the sediment every 30 days. After 3 months, sweeten the wine, stabilize with sulfur if desired, wait 10 days, and then bottle. To start tasting after 1 year of aging of the drink.

Orange wine recipe (Polish)

Peel oranges, remove white core and pits. Get the maximum amount of juice (from 6 kg you usually get about 3 liters). Bring water to a boil and dissolve sugar in it. Mix boiling water with juice and pour everything into a fermentation tank. Wait until the temperature of the wort drops to 22-24^оC and add the yeast prepared in advance according to the instructions on the package. Install a water seal, let it ferment in a dark, warm place for 7-10 days. Drain from the sediment, if necessary, filter through cheesecloth. Pour into a clean fermenter, install a water seal, in a cool place for fermentation. Follow the instructions for the first recipe.

Orange-banana wine with raisins

Boil 2 liters of water. At the same time, peel the oranges and remove the white core (it is bitter and will ruin the wine). Remove all seeds from oranges, and then use a juicer to extract the maximum amount of juice. Peel and finely chop bananas, simmer over low heat with 0,5 liters of water for 20 minutes. Add juice from oranges, coarsely chopped raisins, 900 g of sugar to the fermentation tank, pour everything with 2 liters of boiling water and mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved. Transfer hot stewed bananas to a gauze or linen bag and hang over a fermentation tank, let drain, and then squeeze lightly, after which the pulp can be discarded.

Measure the volume of the wort, take enough water so that the volume of the wort is 3,8 liters, dissolve the tannin and yeast feed in it, add to the wort. Wait for the wort to cool to room temperature and add the pectin enzyme. Wait 12 hours, then add wine yeast. Install a water seal and send for fermentation in a dark, warm place for 7 days. Add the remaining sugar, stir until it is completely dissolved. The wine is sealed and fermented for another 3 days. Drain from the sediment, under a water seal and for holding in a cool place. Drain from sediment every 30 days. After 3 months, you can try, sweeten to taste, etc. Another 10 days of rest, bottling and aging for a year and a half.

Tips for preparing wine from oranges

1. Oranges for wine -making purposes are suitable for any (except dry and spoiled). They can easily mix with tangerines and get an assorted that will become almost an analogue of tangerine wine.
2. Typically, the technology for preparing wine from oranges is no different from the technology of preparing other fruit wines – apple, plum, cherry, etc.
   A lot of disputes arises about the addition of water to this wine. The sugarness of oranges on average is 11%, so we almost do not add water to the water obtained from oranges. In the
3. West, this is done without fail.
   However, in Western and American recipes, components are often used that not everyone can find even in special stores of our country, therefore, a domestic version of wine is presented below – with a small amount of water.

But if you completely “for” dilution of juice, then feel free to change the recipe and add more water. The main thing is not to overdo it, so as not to get the same “water” at the output.

There is no more than 10% of the resulting juice (and not from the weight of the fruits) to the wine from citrus fruits.

4. Add sugar to the wine be sure. Dry home wines from citrus fruits are not entirely for our region (you don’t need a sour?).If you do not dilute (or almost do not dilute) the juice with water, it means that for each liter of the squeezed Fresh at the initial stage it is advisable for you to add 250-300 grams of sugar. After receiving young wine, it can not be sweetened, leaving it dry or sweeten it, creating more pleasant options. By adding 20 grams of sugar to 1 liter of young wine, you will get half -dry wine, 50 grams – semi -sweet.

Adding large volumes of sugar will not turn wine from oranges into liquor, it will become sugary and tasteless. Oranges from oranges, like kuantro and triple sec, are prepared according to a different technology.

5. Since there is no wild yeast or orange juice, to ferment the wine, you will need either wine yeast (for white wines), or a leaven, the recipe of which you will find below.

Legislative for wine

This sourdough is universal. It will help to discard not only the guilt from the oranges, but also to any other.

Prepare:

• Unwashed raisins – 150 grams;
• Sugar – 50 grams;
• Water (boiled, cooled) – 300 ml.

The sourdough is prepared as follows:

The components of the recipe are placed in a glass bottle and closed with a cork of cotton wool. After 3-4 days of storage in a warm place with a temperature of +23 or +25 0 ° C, the sourdough becomes suitable for fermenting fruit or berry wines. Its properties are preserved for 7-10 days, provided that the mixture is stored in the refrigerator.

The introduction of leaven to orange wine is an important point. If you are preparing dry or semi -sweet wine, then make a starter in an amount of 2% of the wort, if dessert is 3%.

Like most white and fruit wines, orange wines should be drunk chilled. A slice of orange in a glass or oil from the zest will emphasize the origin of the drink. Homemade orange wine pairs well with seafood as well as pork dishes due to its high acid content. Enjoy!