How to make wine from fruit juice

How to make wine from fruit juice">How to make wine from fruit juice

Using cartons, bottles or tins of fruit juice is probably the easier way to make wine. With the variety on offer these days, you can make some really interesting wines with very little effort. There is no need for straining, mashing, peeling etc!

Some recommend boiling the juice first it if contains preservatives or additives. I’m not sure what this is meant to achieve, but I did make an Orange juice wine onee without boiling it and it was proper minging. It is also advisable to add some grape juice concentrate to add body or “vinosity” to the wine. (Alternative you could add 250g of chopped raisins). 

Here is a basic recipe for making 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of wine from the equivalent amount of fruit juice…

Equipment:

• 1 gallon demojohn
• bung and airlock
• siphon tube
• 6 bottles and corks

Ingredients:

• ~4 litres of fruit juice
• 250ml grape juice concentrate (or 250g chopped raisins)
• 900g sugar
• 0.5 tsp tannin
• 1tsp yeast
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient

Put the fruit juice, grape concentrate and sugar into the demijohn and stir/shake until dissolved. The sugar content can be adjusted depending on how drt or sweet you want your wine to be. Test with a hydrometer for more accuracy.

Add the other ingredients, stir and then fit the bung and airlock. Leave to ferment for about 3-4 weeks until bubbling stops. You can check for a hydrometer reading close to 1.000 to make sure the fermentation has stopped.

Clear and rack as necessary, then bottle. Leave for about 3 months before drinking.