Loire Style – Dry Red Wine

NB: If you are new to winemaking, it is worth checking out our guide to success.

Ingredients

• 500g Elderberries
• 500g Blackberries
• 650ml Apple Juice
• 500g Black Grapes
• 500g Pears
• 100g Raspberries
• 600g Granulated Sugar
• 5g Oak Granules
• Sufficient Pectolytic Enzyme
• Gervin No. 2 Yeast
• 2g / ½ Teaspoon Yeast Nutrient
• Water to 4.5 Litres

Method

This recipe is designed to give a wine like the better ones from Samur.  These wines are not blockbuster but have a beautifully complex flavour when at their best.  To get this complexity it is important to use a good mixture of red/black fruits and to give the wine a hint of ‘oakiness’.

Use Conference pears if possible and not Williams and add the skins and the cores to bring up the tannin level.  Ferment on the pulp to give a finished wine with about 12% of alcohol.  If fresh grapes are not available, use 150ml of red grape concentrate in their place.