Prune Wines, Sherries, and/or Meads

• 4 lbs of any prune, chopped or minced
• 1-3/4 lb finely granulated sugar
• 2 tsp citric acid
• 3 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1/4 tsp tannin
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 7 pts water
• 1 pkt red wine yeast

Chop or mince prunes while bringing water to a boil. Place prunes, sugar, acid, and tannin in primary and pour boiling water over them. Stir well to completely dissovle sugar, cover with cloth and set aside to cool. When room temperature, add pectic enzyme, stir and recover primary. After 12 hours, add yeast nutrient, stir well, and add activated yeast. Cover the primary again and set aside. Stir daily for 7-10 days (until specific gravity drops to 1.010). Strain off solids, pressing lightly to extract juice, and transfer liquid to secondary. Attach airlock and ferment to dryness. Rack when fermentation ceases, top up and reattach airlock, After wine clears, wait 45 days, rack again, top up, and refit airlock. Wait additional 45 days and rack, top up, and again refit sirlock. Allow wine to age three months, stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait ten days, and rack into bottles. Age another three months before tasting. May require additional aging. [Author’s own recipe]