Wheat & Raisin Wine

You will need

• Whole wheat grains500 g
• Raisins, chopped500 g
• Sugar1.3 kg
• Oranges and lemons, juice of1 each
• Waterto 4.5 L
• Wine yeast + nutrient1 sachet

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. This is the old cottage 'anytime' wine — nothing here is seasonal, it is all from the cupboard, which is exactly its charm in the dead of winter.

2. 2

   The lesson: the wheat and the generous raisins are here for BODY and slow richness, not for their own flavour — the grain feeds a long, gentle ferment and the raisins lend the vinosity that a pure sugar wine lacks. It is a wine built for time.

3. 3

   Put the wheat, chopped raisins, sugar and citrus juice in the bucket; pour on 3 L of cooled boiled water and top to 4.5 L. Reading about 1.090.

4. 4

   Pitch yeast and nutrient. Ferment on the wheat and raisins for a week, stirring daily, then strain to a demijohn.

5. 5

   Rack as it clears; it throws sediment for a while.

6. 6

   The reward is entirely in the ageing: raw and bready at six months, it turns smooth, golden and sherry-like given a year or two. Do not judge it young.