Price of wine and spirits is increasing day by day. It is not legal to your own spirits and it is not so easy, needing some form of distillery equipment. But wine is different and of course easier to make.

My father always made his own wine, and whilst it was cheaper to make than to buy, there was a waiting time between brewing and drinking! Once made, however, you have 6 bottles of wine and as long as you begin a new brew about once every two weeks, you will never run out! The one thing you will find with making your own wine is that it does not taste the same as wine purchased at the store. Their wines are refined with this and that to give them a specific flavour, smell and overtone. Your wine will taste raw, and decidedly fruity.

So how easy and cheap is it to make your own wine? Well relatively cheap, and easy – although decidedly messy! You will need 4 or 5 gallon demi-johns (a large glass jar required for fermenting the wine), 6 bottles, corks, a corking machine, labels, tablets for clearing and yeast. These are basic equipment requirements and can be purchased for around £20 – that is 4 bottles of good wine. With this equipment you will make batch upon batch of delicious home made wine. All you pay for from now on is your ingredients!! You make back your £20 from the cash you will save from not buying wine from the store, and therefore with your first 6 bottle batch of wine you already begin to save money, afterwards you are saving £30 with each batch!

What ingredients do you need? Sugar is a must, as is yeast – these cost a few pounds. After that, your costs are whatever you want them to be! I have made wine from pineapples, grapefruit, raspberries, home grown strawberries, and best of all black currant cordial!!!!! This was my dad’s recipe, and I am now going to share it with you (luckily he doesn’t read my articles – I hope!):

1 large bottle of supermarket brand cordial (1 litre)
3 lb sugar
Yeast and nutrient

(These ingredients will cost £3 and will make 6 bottles of wine – it is a rose that is quite sweet and powerful, but smooth and well balanced also)

Dissolve the sugar in warm water add cordial and boil for 20 minutes – stirring frequently. This kills preservatives. Allow to cool. Pour into your demi-john. Add yeast and nutrient. When ferment dies down, top up to shoulder and continue to finish.

Leave it to ferment for around 8 weeks, somewhere warm but not hot. When you return to it, you will find a clear pink liquid that tastes just great. Not only is this a cheap wine to make, but also clears fantastically due to the fact that there is not any fruit pressing involved in the process and therefore no “bits” in the mixture.

You can now syphon it into the bottle and enjoy!! Let me know how you get on.

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