mint wine

This is a fairly traditional recipe and will work with any kind of mint, although I have never tried it using chocolate mint and don't think it would be worth making using horse mint. Terry Garey, in The Joy of Home Winemaking, has a similar recipe in which she uses apple mint or orange mint. Terry adds a drop of green coloring to her's if it finishes a pale yellow-green, but I don't do that.

Mint Wine

* 1 qt loosely packed mint leaves
* 2-1/2 lbs finely granulated sugar
* 7-1/4 pts water
* 3 tsp citric acid
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* 1/4 tsp tannin
* Champagne wine yeast

Wash mint leaves well and place in small pot with lid. Bring water to a boil and pour 1/4 of it over mint leaves. Bring mint water to a simmer, remove from heat and seep one hour, covered. Stir the sugar in remaining water until thoroughly dissolved and allow to cool. Strain liquid from mint into primary and add then sugar-water, tannin, acid blend, and yeast nutrient. Cover primary and allow to continue cooling until room temperature. Add yeast. Ferment 7 days, rack into secondary, top up and fit airlock. Rack again after 30 days and again 3 months after that. Stabilize, wait 10 days, sweeten to taste, allow to settle overnight, and rack into bottles. This wine MUST age at least a year before drinking, preferably in a dark place. Serve chilled. [Author's own recipe]