TOP 2 recipes for making dogwood wine at home
Homemade wines can successfully compete with store-bought wines in terms of taste and usefulness. The secret of their uniqueness lies in the correct selection of ingredients and strict adherence to the recipe. Fans of spirits are interested in learning how to make cornel wine at home, as well as familiarize themselves with all the nuances of the process. There are several successful ways to prepare an alcoholic drink from this healthy berry with a pleasant sour-tart taste.
Process features
Dogwood wine cannot be confused with any other similar drink. In its sophistication, it can only compete with pomegranate wine. Cornel wine has a light, delicate and soft taste, exudes an alluring and sophisticated aroma. Thanks to the expressive and rich color of the precious ruby, such a drink is indispensable on festive tables, during romantic dates and business meetings.
Observing the recipe and the technological process, dogwood wine can be made at home.
The process of preparing a drink has its own subtleties, which should certainly be known to beginners who do not have solid experience in winemaking:
- Only the most ripe, juicy and beautiful dogwood fruits are used - without damage and signs of rot. It is important that they are clean, plucked from the bush, and not fallen to the ground.
- Before making wine, the dogwood should not be washed, since it is very important that the so-called "live yeast", which is responsible for the beginning of the fermentation process, remains on the surface of the berries. Since dogwood contains these microorganisms in a minimum amount, it is additionally recommended to use raisins or fresh grapes.
- The addition of sugar should be in stages - this will allow the fermentation process to proceed smoothly and be constant.
- Containers and bottles must be thoroughly sterilized with soda and boiling water. Thanks to this simple procedure, the drink will not turn sour.
- In general, the process of making cornel wine at home will take three to four months.
Beneficial features
This drink is an excellent find for true connoisseurs of noble wines. In addition to the original taste and aroma, cornelian wine has a number of useful properties:
- strengthening immunity, providing a general strengthening effect on the body;
- elimination of toxic substances;
- reduction of organ inflammation;
- beneficial effect on the condition of the bronchi, their cleansing;
- decrease in body temperature;
- improving the work of the cardiovascular and digestive systems;
- prevention of infectious diseases;
- positive effect on body weight due to low calorie content.
A set of necessary products
To make healthy and tasty dogwood wine at home according to the standard classic recipe, you will need the following set of ingredients:
- two and a half liters of purified drinking water;
- two kilograms of fresh, high-quality dogwood berries;
- 600 grams of white sugar;
- a handful of raisins (you can replace it with 50 grams of wine yeast).
For other options for preparing dogwood wine, depending on the requirements of the recipe, additional components such as honey, raspberries, grapes, lemon and others may be needed.
How to make dogwood wine at home
Depending on personal preferences, homemade cornel wine can be prepared with or without the addition of special wine yeast. In the second case, it is important to use raspberries or grapes, on the surface of which whole colonies of "live" or "wild" yeast live, taking an active part in the fermentation process.
A simple recipe without yeast
To implement this easy recipe, the following selection of ingredients is required:
- 3 kg of dogwood berries;
- 1 kg of white granulated sugar;
- 4 liters of purified water;
- a handful of dried grapes.
The first step will be the preparation of a natural wine sourdough based on raisins (you can replace it with fresh raspberry berries). This requires:
- Pour a tablespoon of sugar into a bottle, cup or any other small container and pour warm water in the amount of one quarter of a standard glass.
- Add raisins or raspberries to the sweet liquid. It is not required to wash the berries in advance. When using raisins, it is important that they are not treated with sulfuric smoke.
- Cover the top of the container with a piece of gauze and hide in a warm and dark place for two days.
- The natural starter culture will be ready for further use as soon as a foam forms on the surface.
After that, you can immediately proceed directly to the wine-making process:
- Go through the dogwood berries and discard low-quality specimens if you come across them.
- Mash the berries by hand.
- Add the prepared starter culture with raisins or raspberries to the resulting berry mass.
- Add 500 g of sugar.
- Mix the ingredients well and cover the container with gauze.
- Take the container to a dark and warm place for another two days. This time will be enough for the wort fermentation process to begin.
- Strain the wort through cheesecloth and discard the pulp.
- Add 300 g of granulated sugar to the liquid and stir to dissolve all its grains.
- Make sure that the container is not more than 75% full and close it with a water seal.
- Put it back in a dark place and let stand for a week.
- After this period, add the remaining 200 g of sugar. Then the fermentation period will continue, which will last from a month to two.
- When bubbles and foam no longer form on the surface of the container, the wine drink must be drained.
- Next, you need to remove the sample and, if necessary, add sugar or alcohol. When adding sugar, the water seal must be reinstalled on the container - if the fermentation process continues, this will prevent the container from exploding.
- Pour wine into bottles, cork and put in a dark place for subsequent aging.
Yeast version
The recipe with the addition of yeast belongs to the classic.
Step by step cooking process:
- Take a container with a wide neck and place pre-mashed dogwood berries in it.
- After a quarter of an hour, pour the berry mass with a liter of water.
- Leave for a couple of minutes, pre-mixing.
- Add wine yeast and mix again.
- Remove the container in a dark place with a temperature within + 20-25 ° С and cover with gauze.
- The wort fermentation process will begin in a few days. This will be indicated by signs such as foam, hissing and a characteristic odor.
- At this stage, the berries are strained and discarded.
- Add 150 g of granulated sugar to the dogwood juice, which has begun to ferment, mix well and pour into a glass fermentation bottle, filling it to three quarters.
- Close the neck of the bottle with a water seal or an ordinary rubber glove, then be sure to check the tightness.
- Move the container to a dark place with a temperature of up to +25 degrees Celsius.
- After five days, pour out 300 ml of juice from a bottle and dissolve 100 g of sugar in it, and then pour the syrup back.
- Repeat the same procedure after another 3-4 days.
- After about three months, the fermentation process will end, the wort will become lighter, and a sediment will remain on the bottom of the container.
- The wine should be poured into a new glass container, taking care not to get sediment.
- Add sugar and bottle if desired.
How and how long can you store the finished product?
The shelf life of homemade cornelian wine is from 4 to 6 years. Keep the beverage bottles in a dark and cool place.
Every year it is recommended to remove the sediment from the finished wine so that the refined taste does not deteriorate.
Contraindications to use
Homemade cornel wine can be contraindicated in extremely rare cases - during pregnancy, high acidity of gastric juice and nervous overexcitation.
