Wine from shadberry at home – 2 recipes, 2 approaches

When they say: “the game is not worth the candle”, they mean that the effort expended is not justified by the result. The production of wine from shadberry is not an easy task, requiring complete dedication, a certain skill and serious patience. One thing pleases – the effort expended is almost always justified by the result. Irga is worth the candle if she is wine!

Irga is a shrub or tree that grows in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, including southern Russia, and also far beyond its borders. The berry of this plant is highly valued, which in its appearance resembles a small apple, which in fact it is (irga is a relative of apple trees, quince, pears, etc.). This berry is in great demand in the kitchen as an indispensable ingredient for baking and an impeccable raw material for jam. Also, the taste qualities of wine obtained from shadberry were appreciated. Of course, for a winemaker, this raw material is very problematic – on average 6-8% sugar, critically low acids (up to 1%) and even less juice. But the result forced them to adapt and look for the most effective technology for making wine from shadberry.

If you have been looking for a suitable recipe for such a wine for a long time, immediately discard those that involve the extraction of juice from berries – this is virtually impossible. There are only two correct ways to prepare the must: fermentation of crushed berries and its heat treatment (according to history, irgu was cultivated in Europe just to produce wine, which most of all resembled Cahors). Even for the production of dry wine, you will need additional acid, which in our case will provide lemon juice. Of course, I can advise preparing such a drink only on good wine yeast, not any “savages”. The rest of the ingredients, except for sugar and water, of course, remain at your discretion.

Universal recipe for wine from irgi

METHOD 1: BREATHING

Ripe berries of irgi are sorted out, washed, dried and crushed in any convenient way. Place the crushed shadberry in a primary fermentation tank (a food-grade plastic bucket is more than suitable), add sugar, lemon juice, 5 liters of water and a crushed sulfur dioxide tablet, if you decide to use one. Cover the container with gauze and leave it alone for 12 hours, then add pectin enzyme. Wait another 12 hours, add yeast feed and yeast. Stir the wort 2 times a day for 5 days. Strain through cheesecloth (preferably through a nylon brewing bag), squeeze lightly.

Irgi berries go very well with other berries. For example, a mixture of shadberry and black currant has proven itself very well (if you remember, blackcurrant wines are recommended to be prepared using the fermentation method).

Return the resulting fermented juice to the tank for primary fermentation and wait 24 hours, then drain the wort from the sediment into the main fermenter, filling it almost to the very throat, leaving about 1-2 cm for foam. Install a water seal on the fermenter and send it to a cooler place. After rapid fermentation (10-14 days), add water or juice to the top (you can press it in advance), reinstall the water seal and wait another 2 weeks. Pour the young wine into a clean fermenter, under a water seal and for 30 days in a cool place. Drain from sediment and bottle. Store in a dark place to preserve the deep ruby ​​color of the drink. After 6 months of aging in the bottle, a very high quality dry wine is obtained, which will become even better with age. From 3 kg of berries, about 7 liters of wine are obtained.

METHOD 2: COOKING

Sort the ripe berries of irgi, rinse, dry, crush in any convenient way and transfer to a saucepan. Put the pan on the fire and bring the berry to a boil, then boil it over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir, simmer another 10 minutes. Pour the contents of the pot into a nylon wort mash bag (or suitable fabric bag) placed in the primary fermenter. At the same time, dissolve the sugar in 3-4 cups of boiling water and let the syrup cool. In the fermenter, where the bag with the berry was placed, add lemon juice, 2/3 of the syrup, pectin enzyme and yeast feed. Wait 10 hours and add yeast.

Dry shadberry wines are good, but dessert wines usually find more fans among tasters. If you find the wine too boring before bottling, try sweetening it to a “dessert” level (160-200 g/l). Of course, after sweetening, do not forget to keep the wine in a cool place under a water seal for a couple of weeks to make sure it is stable.

Cover the fermentation container with a thick cloth and leave in a warm place (21-23^оC), stirring the wort a couple of times a day. After about 5 days, you need to carefully squeeze the bag of pulp to extract the maximum amount of pure juice from it, discard the pulp. Add the rest of the syrup, mix well, pour into a clean fermenter to the very top, install a water seal. Move the fermenter to a cooler place (15,5-18^оWITH). After 30 days, drain from the sediment, and then again after 30 days, after which the finished wine can be bottled. Store in a dark place to preserve the deep ruby ​​color of the drink. After 6 months of aging in the bottle, a very high quality dry wine is obtained, which will become even better with age. From 3 kg of berries, about 8-9 liters of wine are obtained.

Homemade wine from shadberry with raisins

Cook according to method number 2 from the first recipe. Finely chop the raisins or pass them through a meat grinder, place them in a nylon bag and hang them together with the berries that have cooled down after cooking. After 5 days of rapid fermentation, discard the berry, after another 5 days the raisins, and then a quiet fermentation with two removals from the sediment. Store in a dark place for at least 9 months before tasting. This is a very rich, full-bodied wine that gets much better with age.