Green Apple & Prune Wine
Description
Yes, it sounds a little weird. Prunes in general are not sexy, and this recipe uses prune juice, which reminds everyone of their grandma. But when paired with tart, green apples, prunes become more interesting.
This is truly a farmhouse wine in the sense that it was born from whatever ingredients I had at the time. On a Sunday afternoon when leaving the house was the least desirable idea I'd ever imagined, the star ingredient became a bunch of green apples that no one was eating. But there were only 5 of them, so I did the only thing I could think to do: add fruit juice. And from the description, you already know what kind of juice I found in the fridge.
Ingredients
5 green apples, chopped with skin on
4 cups sugar
1 cup prune juice
1⁄2 cup apple juice
1⁄2 teaspoon acid blend
1 campden tablet, crushed
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1⁄2 teaspoon peptic enzyme
1⁄4 teaspoon wine tannin
1⁄4 packet Red Star Montrachet yeast
Instructions
Add chopped apples to a wide-mouth fermenter or bucket. Boil 2 liters of water. Once water comes to boil, remove from heat and add sugar, prune juice, and apple juice. Pour sugar/juice mixture over apples. Allow to cool. Add water to top to 1 gallon. Add all other ingredients, except for yeast.
Take SG reading and adjust sugar/water content, if needed, until SG is at or close to 1.090.
Allow to sit for 24 hours.
Dissolve yeast in approx. 1/3 cup of warm water. When both yeast and must are bettwen 70-80 degrees F, add yeast to the must.
Allow to ferment for 8-10 days, or until SG is at or close to .990. Stir daily during primary fermentation. Once fermentation slows and SG is at desired level, rack and top off.
For this particular batch, I racked again and topped off at day 16 due to a ton of sediment that had formed.
I fined with Kiesesol and Chitosan around day 45. Back-sweetened with a wine conditioner that included Potassium Sorbate, and bottled around day 50.
Notes
This was absolutely THE WORST SMELLING wine during fermentation. We were convinced that something in the fridge was rotten. But nope, it was just this wine.
End Results
We opened a bottle at 6 months. I remember when bottling this wine that it tasted "just OK," and lacked any real strong apple taste. At 6 months, it wasn't much different. It's smooth-tasting but bland. It has a gorgeous golden color and is relatively clear, with some traces of wispy, feather-like sediment.
At 8 months, it was slightly better, but nothing to get excited about.
Even though I used tart apples and added an acid blend, I think this wine would benefit from some additional acidity.