Making Another Peach Wine

Blushing Star Peaches

In 2011, Kathy wanted to make a peach wine. We found a recipe to try from researching the Internet. This year we decided to once again make peach wine. During hot summers, a cold glass of peach wine with a frozen peach slice in the glass to keep the wine cool is a great afternoon drink.

This year we decided to pick our peaches. We picked 23 pounds of the white peach Blushing Star at Larriland Farm in Woodbine, Maryland. Blushing Star is a white peach with high acid. When we made our first peach wine six years ago, we used a combination of white and yellow peaches that were seconds. We picked extra peaches for pies and eating. We planned on using nine pounds for the wine.

Dicing the peaches

Since the peaches were fresh off the tree, we had to wait a few days before cutting them up for making wine. We cut them in half and removed the pit. Then, using a spoon, removed some of the red pulp that was around the pit. We did this to avoid some of the bitterness that can come from this area. I then diced the peaches with the skins on.

Since we were removing the pits and a bit of pulp, we measured ten pounds of peaches for the fermentation bin. To this we added three gallons of water. Two gallons were added at once. The other gallon was used to dissolve water. For example we placed 3 pounds of sugar in a sauce pan and added a quart about a third of a gallon of water. This sugar water solution was heated and stirred until the sugar was dissolved. Then it was removed from the heat and allowed to cool. After the first three pounds of sugar was added to the fermentation bin with the other water and peaches, the specific gravity reading was 1.045. After another three pounds of sugar, was added using the same method, the specific gravity reading was 1.076. We added another pound of sugar and raised the specific gravity to 1.083.

We used a total of seven pounds of sugar, a one-pound increase over the first time we made peach wine where we recorded a specific gravity reading of 1.084.

A few other items were added to the fermentation bin. Taking a cup of juice from the fermentation bin, we added:

¾ t of yeast energizer
3 ? t of acid blend
1 ? t of grape tannin
? t of pectic enzyme
? t and a pinch of potassium metabisulphite

Fermentation

We actually have a measuring spoon for a pinch. After stirring the ingredients into the juice, we added the mixture to the fermentation bin. We waited until the next day to pitch the yeast.

This time, I decided to go with the Côte des Blancs yeast based on Internet research and the fact that I plan to back sweeten the wine prior to bottling. Kathy stirred the yeast in some of the juice and waited 20 minutes before pitching it into the fermentation bin. By evening, bubbles in the air-lock were noticed about every 20 minutes. By the next day, the bubbles were every two seconds. I’ll write another post next weekend with activity during the week.

Cheers,
Terry