Winter Parsnip Wine

You will need

• Parsnips, lifted after frost1.8 kg
• Sugar1.3 kg
• Raisins, chopped250 g
• Lemons, juice of2
• Pectic enzymeper dose
• Waterto 4.5 L
• White wine yeast + nutrient1 sachet

Picking it at the right moment

• Parsnip

  Best after the roots have had a hard frost, which turns the starch sweet; lift them as needed through the winter.

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. Scrub (do not peel) the parsnips and dice them. Use roots lifted after a frost — the cold turns their starch sweet, which is the whole point of the season.

2. 2

   The lesson: a root wine gets its sugar from starch, which you have to coax out. Simmer the diced parsnip gently until just tender but NOT mushy — overcook it and the wine turns permanently hazy with starch you can never clear.

3. 3

   Strain the liquor (do not press the pulp through) onto the sugar, chopped raisins and lemon juice; top to 4.5 L.

4. 4

   When lukewarm add pectic enzyme; when cool, yeast and nutrient. Reading about 1.090.

5. 5

   Ferment out under airlock. Root wines throw a lot of sediment — rack promptly and often.

6. 6

   This is a slow-maturing wine that comes out golden, dry and nutty; keep it at least a year, longer for a smoother, nuttier result.