Harry Roberts

“It should be clear like the tears of a penitent, so that a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass; its colour should represent the greenness of a buffalo’s horn; when drunk it should descend impetuously like thunder; sweet-tasted as an almond; creeping like a squirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the building of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a spark of fire; subtle like the logic of the schools of Paris; and delicate as fine silk.

“Often the blind piper would pay us a visit and taste our gooseberry wine, for the making of which we had lost neither the receipt nor the reputation.”

GENERAL Principles.—In making wines from fresh British fruit, the fruit should be quite mature, yet as fresh in reality as in name; and too much care cannot be taken in removing all stems, leaves, unripe or diseased fruits, and other refuse which would certainly affect the taste, appearance, and keeping power of the ultimate wine. As soon as possible after being gathered, the fruit is to be placed in a tub or other vessel, and submitted to the process of crushing or bruising. It is then thrown into a wooden vat, the water added, and the mixture allowed to stand for from one to three days, according to the variety of wine and other circumstances. During this period of maceration, the mixture is to be frequently stirred by means of a wooden stirrer. The liquid portion is then drawn or strained off, the residuary pulp being placed in hair bags and subjected to pressure. In the case of raisins and other dried fruits, it is customary to chop them into small pieces, and to soak them in water for twelve hours before crushing them. The liquid which is thus squeezed out is added to the rest of the liquid and placed in another vat of wood or earthenware, the sugar and cream of tartar being added, and the whole well stirred for twenty minutes. Yeast should then be added, when any is required, and a temperature of about 60° F. maintained. For about three days—or until most of the sugar is converted into alcohol, as shown by the saccharometer—the mixture is to be kept closely covered by means of mats or other coverings. It is, during this time, to be frequently stirred and its surface skimmed.

It is then carefully to be run off into casks, the latter to be filled to the brim, and the wine allowed to work over or “purge” at the partly open bung-holes. The casks are to be kept constantly filled up with juice, and in about a fortnight the rectified spirit is to be added, if such addition is thought desirable. The casks are then to be bunged securely and left for a month, when they are to be again filled up and re-bunged. Six weeks later they should be pegged or spiled, and a little wine drawn off to ascertain if it be clear. If it is quite clear, it may be racked off—preferably by means of a syphon—into other casks or into bottles for storage. If, however, it is not yet clear, the casks must be bunged up and left for another fortnight, or the wine may be fined by the addition of isinglass—half an ounce to the hogshead—previously dissolved in a little cold water and diluted with a pint of wine. This fining solution is to be thoroughly mixed with the wine in the casks by means of a clean broom-handle. In a short time the isinglass, with the objectionable particles in the wine, sinks to the bottom, and so enables the clear liquid to be drawn off. It should then be stored for at least six months in a cellar having a temperature of about 56° F.

Racking is best performed by means of a syphon, though the wine may be—and commonly is—drawn off by a tap. In the latter case the tap should be inserted two or three days before the wine is to be drawn off, thus affording it time to re-settle. If it is not convenient to rack off the wine into a second cask, it may be drawn into a clean tub or vat, and returned to the same cask after it has been thoroughly cleaned, and turned bung-hole downwards over an ounce of sulphur, which is to be burnt so as to fill the cask with the fumes, the wine being at once returned and the bung secured.

It is of the utmost consequence in wine-making that every implement, cask, tub, tap, bottle, and cork, be scrupulously clean before they come into contact with the wine; and in bottling it is essential that the bottles be perfectly dry.

Among the most important and useful appliances for the home wine-maker are the following: barrels, vats, bottles, corks, taps, pegs, mallet, cork-squeezer, fruit-crusher, wine-press, straining bags, and syphon. These may be obtained of Messrs. Lumley, of 1, America Square, Minories, London; or Messrs. Barnett and Foster, of Eagle Wharf Road, London.

I cannot too strongly urge the reader to be loyal to her country and to good taste in her wine-making; and to confine herself chiefly to the making of simple British wines from British fruit with British names. Nothing is more objectionable than to brand wines as British ports, British sherries, English claret, and so on. It is almost as insufferable as the labelling of writers as Belgian Shakespeares, English MoliÈres, French Fieldings, and the rest.

I will describe the method of preparing a few typical wines, and then indicate the several classes in which the various British wines may be arranged.

To make Gooseberry Wine.—Take six pounds of perfectly ripe gooseberries, and treat them as directed in the section on general principles. Allow one gallon of soft, filtered, or distilled water; four pounds of sugar, previously made into a syrup with part of the water; and one and a quarter ounces of cream of tartar. One or two ounces of rectified spirits of wine may be added. Each of these several ingredients is to be added at that stage of the fermentation indicated in the section on general principles.

To make Sparkling Gooseberry Wine.—Proceed as in the last recipe; but do not allow the fermentation quite to complete itself before bottling the wine. Add to each bottle a tiny piece of sugar of about the size of a pea. Use good strong bottles, and secure the corks by wiring them. It is sometimes desirable to hasten fermentation in the vat by placing therein a small piece of toast spread on both sides with ale yeast.

To make Lemon Wine.—Take five pounds of peeled lemons and the sliced peel of four lemons, and proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but allow only three and a half pounds of sugar and add no cream of tartar. The pips should be removed before the fruit is crushed.

To make Cowslip Wine.—Prepare a simple wine after the manner of making gooseberry wine, employing one pound of raisins, four pounds of sugar, and one ounce of cream of tartar to the gallon of water. When active fermentation has nearly ceased, a few weeks before racking, add two quarts of bruised cowslip flowers. Then complete the making of the wine in the usual way.

To make Rhubarb Wine.—Take five pounds of rhubarb stalks, cut them into small pieces, and proceed as in making either gooseberry or sparkling gooseberry wine, but no cream of tartar should be added, and only three pounds of sugar should be allowed to the gallon.

To make Date Wine.—Take six pounds of stoned dates, and proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but no sugar is to be added.

The Merissah of the Berbers is a wine made from dates to which a small quantity of maize has been added.

To make Damson Wine.—Take five pounds of ripe stoned damsons, crush them and one-tenth of their stones, and boil them in a gallon of water. Then proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but only allow three pounds of sugar.

Mead, or Metheglin—for the distinction between them is difficult to determine—was the chief alcoholic beverage of the earliest inhabitants of Britain, and the maker of the mead was the eleventh person in order of precedence at the ancient courts of the Welsh princes. Mead is usually supposed to have been the fermented wine obtained from the liquor formed by boiling honeycombs with water, whereas metheglin was prepared from honey and water, with or without the addition of hops or spices.

To make Spiced Metheglin.—Boil for an hour a mixture of one gallon of water and three pounds of honey, taking off the scum as it forms. Allow the mixture to stand for twenty-hour hours, add yeast on toast, and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of wine-making. When the active fermentation is subsiding, a few weeks before racking the mead, hang into the liquid within the barrel an open woven bag of mixed spices, an ounce each of crushed ginger, cloves, allspice, and coriander seeds.

To make Metheglin with Hops.—Boil half an ounce of hops in water, and allow it cool. Pour three quarts of warm water on three pounds of honey, stir, and allow the mixture to stand for twelve hours. Then add the hops and the water in which they were boiled, together with a piece of toast spread on both sides with yeast. Allow the mixture to ferment, and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of wine-making. Add no ingredients beyond those named above.

Hydromel is but another name for metheglin, the word implying a product of the fermentation of a mixture of honey and water.

To make American Mead.—Take a barrel of cider, fresh from the apple-press, and place therein twenty or thirty pounds of drained honeycombs. The next day add sufficient honey to raise the specific gravity to such a point that an egg will float in the mixture. It is then to be treated in the manner suggested in the paragraph on the general principles of wine-making, the only further addition being half a gallon of rectified spirits.

To make Ginger Beer.—Take five gallons of boiling water and pour it on five pounds of lump sugar, five lemons sliced and without their pips, five ounces of bruised ginger, and five ounces of cream of tartar. Strain off when the liquid is cool enough, and add five table-spoonfuls of brewer’s yeast. Let the ginger beer stand all night, and then strain again as carefully as possible. Add the white of one egg before bottling the ginger beer, and put the beer in well-washed champagne bottles. It will be ready in one week. Brewer’s yeast should, if possible, be used, but if none can be had, two ounces of German yeast may be substituted for it.—J. R.

To make Spruce Beer.—Mince a quantity of young sprouts of the spruce, and boil them with twenty times their volume of water and an ounce of sugar to the pint of shoots. Allow to cool and proceed as in making ginger beer.

“He wanted to make a memorandum in his pocketbook; it was about spruce beer. Mr. Knightley had been telling him something about brewing spruce beer, and he wanted to put it down.”

Certain other Wines.—Currant (red, white, or black), cherry, raspberry, mulberry, whortleberry, blackberry, apple, grape, and elderberry wines are made after the manner of gooseberry wine.

Sloe wine and green gooseberry wine, which latter is not recommended, are made like damson wine.

Raisin and fig wines are made as date wine is made.

Orange wine is made as lemon wine. Apricot, clary, elderflower, ginger, juniper, and gilliflower wines are made after the manner prescribed for cowslip wine.

It is often thought desirable to add to wines the flavour of spices or herbs other than those essentially used in the making of the wine. In such a case, the spices should be placed in a muslin bag and suspended in the wine when active fermentation is subsiding, as suggested in the directions for making. Commonly for elderberry wine, a mixture of crushed ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and mace—of each half an ounce to the gallon—is employed, and for whortleberry wine a mixture of lavender, rosemary, and ginger.

British wines have earned their bad name partly through the careless manner in which they are usually prepared, unclean bottles, corks, casks, and vats being commonly used; and partly through the absurdly short space of time allowed to elapse between making and drinking. No wine is fit to drink under two years from the time of its manufacture, and most wines should be kept in bottle much longer than is customary.