Black Currant Wine

Making Black Currant wine at home starts with a trip to McLean & Buckhorn Berry Farms in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada. The farm's goal is to provide fresh, nutritious produce to local communities. After carefully choosing the best black currants, the process continues at home. Crushing the currants releases their flavorful juices, ready to be turned into a delicious wine. During fermentation and aging, patience is needed, but the excitement grows each day. Finally, the time comes to bottle the wine, bringing back memories of loved ones enjoying it last year. These happy moments inspire me to make this exceptional wine again. Making black currant wine has become a cherished tradition in my household. Picking the best currants, crushing them for sweetness, waiting for fermentation, and sharing the final product bring me great joy and anticipation. I encourage you to join me on this journey and enjoy the wonderful rewards of homemade black currant wine.

Basic Process of Wine Making for all wines:

Day 1: Harvesting the fruit.

Day 2: Crushing and pressing the fruit or herbs you are going to use. Preparing the must (fruit pulp, water plus sugar). Sterilizing all the equipment. Preparing the mother yeast starter

Day 3:Adding active yeast starter to must. Waiting 5 days during this initial fermentation.

Day 6: Straining the must into the carboy and placing the airlock.

Day 6 onwards: fun part of watching fermentation (approximately 5-6 weeks)

Day X: ‘Racking’ is a medieval-sounding term for a simple task of transferring the fermented must from one carboy, also known as a demijohn, to another. and leaving the sediment or lees (leftover yeast particles from autolysis) behind. Racking helps to clear the wine and it is done when no more bubbles appear in the airlock, fermentation is over and the wine must be rack. Racking is done with help of the syphon. An optimal temperature of around 55°F (12°C). Use your cold cellar.

Day Y: Within a few weeks, the wine will be clear and must be racked for the second time.

Maturing: All maturing wines are kept in a cool and a dark place and need to be racked every 2 months. Regular racking is also essential to prevent from re-fermentation when the weather gets warmer. If wines are bottled too early, the bottles my burst under pressure, which can be messy and dangerous. When the wine is perfectly clear it is the time to bottle it.

Bottling: You will require wine bottles, corks or stoppers and the syphon All equipment must be properly sterilized.

Black Currant Wine (Dry wine)

By Zosia Culinary Adventures | Date: Nov 29, 2023

Preparation Time: starting wine 6 days, fermentation 5-6 weeks; racking 2-3 months; bottling after 4 months; consumption after 6-12 months

Yield: 12 bottles x 750ml each

Equipment for all wine making (it is an investment) is available at the wine equipment store or restaurant equipment store

sanitizer (One Step No-Rinse Cleanser)

15 liters carboy glass or demijohn ( need at least two - the second one is for racking
2 large buckets made from food grade plastic (18.9 L)
5 liter stainless steel stock pot to boil water
airlock and rubber bung or stopper that will be inserted into the mouth of the fermenter
nylon bag for squeezing, strainer, and a funnel
long handled spoon
syphon tube
corks size #8 fits all basic wine bottles, wine bottles, the corker and the heavy duty carboy brush
hydrometer to check alcohol level (optional)

Ingredients:

3 litres fresh black currants from McLean & Buckhorn Berry Farms
1.5 kg sugar dissolved in 8 liters of boiled water to make sugar syrup
350 g sultana raisins, minced
1 litre Pure Grape Juice
1 tsp Acid blend
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 tsp Wine Tannin
1/4 tsp Sodium Metabisulfite is a common additive used to preserve and stabilize wines
1 sachet of Yeast Lalvin EC- 1118

Instructions:

Sanitize everything that will be used during wine making process.
Making Mother Yeast Starter: Find a small well sanitized bottle with capacity of 0.5 litre, no cork is needed, just a cotton wool. Bring 250ml water to boil, when cool to internal temp no higher than 25°C, (otherwise yeasts will die), pour it into the bottle. Add 1 tsp sugar, squirt of fresh lemon, a pinch of yeast nutrients and finally the full package of yeasts. Plug the mouth of the bottle with cotton wool. Leave it till next day or until it starts to "work" (bubbles form).
Remove the stems and leaves from the black currants and rinse them well.
In the large stainless steel stockpot, carefully crush the black currants by hand, the potato masher, or an immersion blender. It is vital to thoroughly crush all the currants to guarantee a successful fermentation process later on.
Dissolve all required sugar in 8 liters of boiling water. Pour hot syrup over the black currant must, add the minced sultana raisins and cover with the lid. Let it soak for at least 6 hours, then pour the mush into the sanitized plastic bucket. Cover well with the lid until next morning.
Next morning add all remaining ingredients: grape juice, acid blend, yeast nutrient, wine tannin, sodium metabisulfite and yeast starter.
Stir well all ingredients with a wooden spoon. Ferment in the covered plastic bucket for 5 days at temperature of 22°C, stirring 3 times daily.
Squeeze the black currant must through the nylon bag and strain the juice into the carboy (fermenter) and place the airlock.
After 6 weeks, or when the fermentation has stopped, rack the black currant wine and rack again as soon as the wine is really clear. The wine will become more bright and transparent after each racking. Regular racking is essential to prevent - re-fermentation when the warmer weather returns. Also, add 1/4 tsp of Sodium Metabisulfite after each racking to preserve and stabilize wine. It is really your choice but I hate to see the wine going to waste.
Once the wine is clear, it is ready for bottling. Pour Into clean and sanitized dark glass bottles, and have tightly corked and sealed. Label each bottle with a date and description. The maturation period of black currant wine takes at least 6-12 months.
Store wine at 10°C in the cold cellar.