Strawberry & Rhubarb Wine

You will need

• Rhubarb stalks (leaves discarded)0.8 kg
• Strawberries0.8 kg
• Sugar1.2 kg
• Pectic enzymeper dose
• Campden tablet1
• Wine yeast + nutrient1 sachet
• Waterto 4.5 L

Picking it at the right moment

• Strawberry

  Ripe when red all over including around the shoulders, and fragrant — a white or green tip means underripe, and they barely ripen after picking.

• 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. Discard every scrap of rhubarb leaf — toxic — and slice the stalks; hull the strawberries.

2. 2

   This is a blend for balance: rhubarb brings sharp structure, strawberry brings perfume and softness — each covers the other's weakness.

3. 3

   Crush both under 2.5 L cooled boiled water, add a campden tablet, wait 24 hours, then add pectic enzyme.

4. 4

   Add the sugar dissolved warm; top to 4.5 L (reading ~1.088); pitch the yeast and nutrient.

5. 5

   Ferment on the pulp two days, strain, rack and clear.

6. 6

   A pale-pink early-summer wine, better balanced than either fruit alone.