Rhubarb & Ginger Wine

You will need

• Rhubarb stalks (leaves discarded)1.4 kg
• Root ginger, bruised30 g
• Sugar1.2 kg
• Precipitated chalk (calcium carbonate)small measured dose
• Pectic enzymeper dose
• Campden tablet1
• Wine yeast + nutrient1 sachet
• Waterto 4.5 L

Picking it at the right moment

• Rhubarb

  Pull (do not cut) stalks when they are a good length and firm and the leaf has fully unfurled; very late-season stalks toughen.

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. Wipe (do not peel) the rhubarb, discard every scrap of leaf — the leaves are poisonous — and slice thin.

2. 2

   As with plain rhubarb, its sharpness is oxalic acid, harsh in quantity: stir a small measured dose of precipitated chalk into the crushed stalks in a little water and let it settle before building the must. The ginger warms and rounds it.

3. 3

   Layer the sliced stalks and bruised ginger with the sugar overnight to draw the juice, add a campden tablet, and wait 24 hours; then add pectic enzyme, top to 4.5 L (reading ~1.088).

4. 4

   Pitch the yeast and nutrient; ferment on the pulp two or three days only, then strain.

5. 5

   Rack when clear.

6. 6

   A pale, lively spring wine with a warm ginger edge.