Looking for a Tried and tested Gooseberry Wine Recipe

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Tengu

Junior
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Hey Everyone,

A friend of mine has quite a few lbs of gooseberry's and we want to turn it to wine. So i'm trying to locate a Tried and tested gooseberry wine recipe. I've tried searching the forums, but can't seem to find one.

Anyone got a good one they could post? or a link to one?

Thanks

Shawn
 
I came across this recipe on the web.... don't know where, so I can't give credit where credit is due. I've made it a couple of times and really like the results. I have this season's gooseberries in the freezer and they'll be used for another batch or two. I find that the best flavor comes from berries that are still slightly green with lots of tart flavor. Very dark berries seem to loose the "zing" that stands out in this wine. I also freeze mine first even though the recipe doesn't mention it.

Gooseberry Wine Recipe
Igredients
2½ quarts of fresh gooseberries
1½ pounds of fine granulated sugar
11 ounce can 100% Welch's White Grape Juice frozen concentrate (or any other white grape juice from concentrate, make sure its 11 ounces)
6½ pints water
1 crushed Campden tablet
½ tablespoon of pectic enzyme
¼ tablespoon of tannin
1 tablespoon of yeast nutrient
Instructions
Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it then remove from heat. While the water is boiling top, tail and rinse the gooseberries. Make sure you throw away and that are not ripe. Place gooseberries in a straining bag and tie the end tightly. Put in the primary and crush the berries with the back of a spoon or your hands. Pour water onto the crushed gooseberries. Add the white grape juice, the tannin and the yeast nutrient. Stir well, cover the primary with a clean towel or cloth and put to the side to cool down. When the mixture is at room temp, add the crushed Campden tablet and stir well. Then get the primary and set to the side for 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme then stir and set aside another 12 hours. Add the activated yeast to the mixture and stir daily for 8 days. Make sure you drip drain and do not squeeze! Put the straining bag over the primary, discard the excess pulp, recover the primary and allow the mixture to settle overnight. Rack into secondary and top up if required and fit airlock. Rack, top up (if needed) and refit airlock every 30 days until the wine clears and no new sediments form for a 30-day period. Stabilize it and wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Allow it to age 12 months before tasting. It should be perfect.
 
Thanks Lon, for the reciepe, I was looking at a very similar one, but was concerned as i'm still new to all this, I wanted to find a recipe that someone has tested, So again I thank you,

shanw
 
I made two batches of gooseberry wine using a very simple recipe. You can check it out on my post (there is a picture of the finished product also). Since we don't get winemaking ingredients such as pectic enzyme, tannins, etc., only yeast has been used. I suppose you can refine it using the ingredients available with you.

All the best.
 
MonteroRed,

What color were your gooseberries? I've made gooseberry wine and it was red.
Scott
 
Not my wine, but I do have 7 diff kinds of gooseberries that range from greenish white to dark dark red/black. Just wanted to point out that while I did tail my first batch I realized that esp if using the fruit bag tailing was just a waste of time. So now I wash and freeze, then I'm good to go. It saves a lot of time.

Pam in cinti
 
I too had used gooseberies that were greenish white. To get the golden color I added some lightly caramelized sugar. Net result was a whiskey colored wine.
 

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