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Chapter XVni
Favorite Wine Making Recipes
While the passing of Prohibition is more than likely to end
the long era of home wine making, there may be some who
win like to prove their skill, and to please them,this chapter
is dedicated to some of the more popular homemade wines.
Of them aU, the ordinary Grape and Blackberry Wines
lead the list, along with Elderberry, Raisin, Cherry, Dande-
hon and Rhubarb Wines. Among the recipes I now shall
list are some which have been our family pride for more
than a century.
GRAPE WINE
WhUe this recipe is mainly for Concord (dark purple)
grapes, it can be used in the same fashion for any grapes and
produce satisfactory results. You may make any quantity
you wish by merely adhering to the proportions and treat
ment now cited.
To make is gallons ofrich grape wine,crush 150 poimds of
grapes (approximately ten boxes each weighing 15 pounds).
An ordinary potato masher may be used. Put crushed grapes
into stone crocks and let stand covered for ten days, stirring
with wooden spoon twice a day as the grape pulps and skins
become dried on surface and wiU sour unless this is done.
Always replace cover.
After ten days,siphon off the juice and then squeeze in a
wine press the pulpy remainder until aU the juice is extracted.
Add to the siphoned juice and divide the entire lot equally
into three five-gaUon bottles.
To each gallon of juice now add two and a half pounds of
sugar,funnehng it into each s-gallon bottle. Now fill bottles
with lukewarm water to the point where the bottle starts to
taper toward the neck. Insert a rubber cork in which is a vent
formed by a sort of gooseneck pipefrom which is appended a
hose. At the loose end of hose place a jar of water, so that
when hose is in the water no air can get to grape mixture.
Let stand until all fermentation ceases. This you can
ascertain when the gases of fermentation cease to make
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