[Mrs.Veg]

Crumbs....it all looks a bit complicated to me....but thanks for the recipe!

[Isprinsessan]

Thanks sideways that is a fab site   . Would your favourite wine be pinot by any chance  :?:

[Sideways]

Thanks sideways that is a fab site   . Would your favourite wine be pinot by any chance  :?:

Favourite red, yes, although decent Burgundy is difficult to get in the UK unless your average spend is way over £10 a bottle and even then it can be hit or miss. Fortunately I have a sweet tooth so I enjoy Pinot Noir from New World countries where the QPR is more palatable (excuse the pun), Chile and New Zealand for example. Truth is, there are good and bad examples in all grapes.

Favourite white? Riesling, particularly Alsace (France), Mosel, Pfalz (Germany), and certain regions in Australia. For me, Riesling is the King of all grapes  

[Isprinsessan]

Totally agree about riesling. Fortunately it is not considered trendy just at the mo. Unlike Pinot (sadly). I do love that smoky cloudy type.

[wisp]

Has anyone got a recipe for beetroot wine?

[Scribbler]

working now but will try and get one to you tonight

[Scribbler]

This is a very old WI recipe, so you may want to cut down the sugar a bit - they made them very sweet on those days.

5 lb beetroots, 3.5lbs white sugar, half and ounce of root ginger, juice of one lemon and one orange, 1 gallon of water, 8 cloves, yeast.

Wash the roots well and slice into the cold water. Boil until tender and strain the the liquid into a jug containing the sugar, cloves, fruit juice and bruised ginger. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. When cool add the yeast and leave for 7 days. strain through muslin.

Decant into a demijohn. Keep some aside for topping up if neccesary. Put the demijohn on a tray in a warm room, fermentation will start and it may overflow. When froth no longer forms, clean the tray and demijohn up and fit an airlock.

When bubbles are no longer formed, decant into a second demijohn for it to clear, and leave in a cool place for about six months. Then rack off and bottle and store for a further six months.

Hope it doesn't explode, because that will mean a very nasty stain on the ceiling...

[wisp]

Thanks for that Scribbler. How much sugar would you suggest? 2lb? or to what SG would you add sugar?

[Scribbler]

I'd've thought a couple of pounds would do. But it's such a long time since I made any wine.

The book was published in 1956, and as I said, they went in for much sweeter wine. My Dad always used to cut the sugar by about a third.

I gave you a recipe for spiced beetroot wine technically. Ordinary version just uses 3lbs sugar, 5lb old beetroots, gallon of water and yeast. Same method. This maybe less complicated?

If you're into roots, parsnip is excellent if you can wait a couple of years for it to mature.

You could also do a parsnip and beetroot using the 'spiced'method, with 3lbs of old beetroot and 2lbs of frosted parsips. In these days of global warming you'd have to frost them in the freezer...

Let me know how it goes - I'll probably be winemaking again next year, when I've got the raised beds down (or perhaps up).

Work calls.