Join us for 12 Days of Christmas Recipes! Your favourite TreeTime.ca employees stepped into the kitchen to try out some delicious recipes. Try them out yourself to share with family and friends over the holiday season! (Or keep it all for yourself… we won’t tell!).

Day 7: Blackcurrant Wine

Here is what Drew had to say:

Blackcurrant consumption is highest in Europe. The UK boasts the highest consumption in the world on a per capita basis. And… that means the rest of us are slow to catch on to how amazing this cold-hardy berry can be in jams, jellies, juices, and… wine. I make a lot of fruit wines. Blackcurrant and chokecherry are always the most well-received by friends and family. It’s so easy to make, too.

Join me in making a gallon of this tasty wine.

Start by collecting a gallon or more of berries.

Boil them with a small amount of water that will later boil off.

Add sugar. I added 4 cups here which is on the drier side. Sometimes I add more. It depends on the natural sugars in the berries and if you have home winemaking equipment, you can record the sugars and target specific alcohol contents, sweetness, etc. If not, don’t worry. I haven’t tasted a bad blackcurrant wine yet.

Also note, I’m not a purist and sometimes I add a liter or so of honey instead of table sugar.

After 20 mins allow to cool.

Pour juice into gallon container and strain solids.

Add pectic enzyme to break down the fruit and reduce any potential haze. Leave it overnight.

Add yeast the morning after the pectic enzyme. I prefer yeasts for fruit wines as they leave more flavor and residual sweetness, but many different yeasts can make good wine.

Mine started to bubble later the same day I added yeast (fast). A week or so later, once the bubbling of the airlock had stopped, I siphoned to a new gallon container and tried to leave the settled yeast and particulates behind. This is called racking.

I racked again 3 months later. Then started tasting. Wow was it good. After 2 years the blackcurrant taste changes to a raisin plum type taste. Very different than it tastes at 3 months.

Experiment.

Enjoy the journey, responsibly!

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