Red Currant Wine

(recipe at end of page)

By Dick Rizzo

For years, the red currants growing in our yard were either left for the birds or my wife would tediously pick them and use the extremely tart juice as an additive to our lemonade. Occasionally some jelly would be made.

In 2007, my second year of wine making, a large bowl of currants was picked, and sat in the refrigerator for two days and when I asked what was to be done with them, the response was “I'm too busy, why don't you make some wine.” As they say, the rest is history.

I did a Google search for a recipe and basically combined a few directions that looked promising (I even included two overripe bananas) and processed a one gallon batch. I was already close to the 3 lbs. of currants needed for the batch so I went out and picked a few more. The hardest job is patiently destemming them all, which left me with red fingertips. I had to buy a nylon straining bag and find a clean pail for the extraction. The wine that resulted was dry, very acidic and not bad in small doses. I was glad I only made a gallon. It had a bright, scarlet color and very nice fruit aroma that I couldn't determine.

In August of 2009, I decided to make another gallon. I did some testing and added some sugar at bottling and came out with a very good tasting wine. The great thing about our club is learning lots of tricks and hints from talking to people and tasting the results of their efforts. The seminars from professional winemakers give us the opportunity to try new techniques to improve our own wines. As a result, this year I picked 10.75 lbs. of red currants and will probably end up with 3 gallons of wine. I also planted a black currant bush and hope to have some berries next summer.

If you are interested, these plants like full sun, but tolerate partial shade. One bush will eventually grow about 4 feet tall and spread out to 2-3 feet. They don't require much work. I don't use any sprays. I just cut out the old dead canes and let the plant grow. My one red currant bush still has fruit and probably a higher sugar content than what I picked in July. From past experience I found that the longer the fruit hangs, the more likely insects may lay eggs inside. The larva are tiny and do not look appetizing. It usually means that the batch gets composted.

In '09, the initial juice had a Brix of 8, which is about normal. This year I harvested about three weeks earlier because I had the time and the weather seemed to accelerate ripening. The berries looked ready. The juice only had a Brix of 3. If I had a refractometer, it would help determine the sugar level because I don't have enough juice to waste filling a hydrometer jar.

This year I made a 3-gallon batch with some modifications that gave me a starting Brix of 30. This will probably give me a sweeter wine and take care of the excess acid. I may be diluting it with water if it has too much alcohol. This will always be a work in progress and will satisfy my need to experiment and save the expensive grape juice.

I am trying to keep better records this year. I'm using Jack Keller's method from his website. I also used Go-Ferm to rehydrate the same yeast. The changes I made this year, harvesting early, putting the yeast nutrient in all at once (based on what I know now) and adding so much sugar may not have a drastic effect, but I think I lost control of managing the sweetness.

I'm starting at pH 3.0 and an SG. Of 1.128 with TA still unknown, but tart! Once fermentation started, it reached an SG. of 1.098 in two days, at which I put it into the secondary. This seemed really fast. The temperature of the garage was 80 degrees when I started, and 12 hours after adding the yeast I brought it into the basement, where it was 65 degrees. In eight more days, it had dropped to 1.050 and was still sweet. Since the potential alcohol was 16.7% and now the level is at 10.5%, at least I will be able to determine the alcohol tolerance of this yeast which will help in making other wines.

Next time I'll consult the sugar chart and adjust accordingly instead of adding whatever sugar amount mentioned in the recipe. You can always add more, but you can't take any out! I should have learned that lesson already. I'll keep you posted on how this wine progresses.

I have enjoyed this experience. It has allowed me to see the more creative side of wine making.

The recipe I'll share is what I used in 2009. I won a Silver medal at the NY State Fair for this wine. I have had many positive comments from those who have tasted it.

Red Currant Wine Recipe

(This may have originally come from Jack Keller's website as it is almost the same.)

Makes one gallon and may be multiplied. All teaspoon measures are level.

3 lbs. red currants
7 pints of water
2 3/4 lbs. cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon DAP yeast nutrient (I added it all at once)
1 pkg. yeast (I used Cotes des Blanc)

Pick currants fully ripe. Remove any stems or leaves. Wash and drain currants. I put currants in batches in a food processor and pulsed on puree setting. Pour puree into nylon straining bag placed in primary fermenter. Tie off bag, squeeze out juice and leave in primary.

Bring water to a boil and dissolve sugar and pour over juice and straining bag.

Stir in enzyme and yeast nutrient, cover and let sit 24 hours.

After 24 hours, squeeze as much as you can from bag and discard pulp. Check Specific Gravity. Dissolve yeast as per directions, add and cover primary and stir daily.

When must reaches SG. of 1.030 (about 5 days or less), siphon it off sediment into gallon glass secondary. Attach airlock.

When fermentation is complete (SG. < 1.000), rack it off sediment into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Add one ground Campden tablet.

Rack as necessary every two months or until wine clears.

I cold stabilized in the garage for about three weeks.

Add Potassium Sorbate as per directions prior to bottling. Taste and add sugar if desired.

NOTE: The batch I made was very acidic. I had no way to make any adjustment in the primary. I had Dave Gerling test the acid in January with the club's titrator and the TA was 2.5 with a pH of 2.85. The SO₂ was 20 ppm so I added one ground Campden tablet.

I bought a bottle of wine condi­tioner, which is a concentrated sugar solution. In early May, I added 3 oz. to the gallon, let it sit a day, tasted and decided to add another 3 oz. and let sit another 24 hours. The acidity was reduced, it tasted good and the sugar was in the semi-dry range. I tested for glucose with Clini-Test tablet. I added one Campden tablet and bottled it.