Apple, Parsnip, Banana and Fig Sweet Sherry
- 4 lb. apples
- 1-3/4 lb. parsnips
- 1 lb. bananas
- 1 lb. figs
- 1-1/2 lb. granulated sugar
- 1 pt. white grape concentrate
- 1/4 oz. pectic enzyme
- 1/4 tsp. tartaric acid
- 1 gallon water
- Sherry wine yeast and nutrient
Before beginning, scrub and chop parsnips, slice bananas (throw away skins), core and slice apples, and wash figs, removing stems. Dissolve sugar in 1-1/2 cups boiling water, allow to cool, and store in jar for future use. Boil the parsnips in 6 pt. for 10 minutes. Strain off pulp and boil bananas in same water for 30 minutes. Put apple slices and figs in primary fermentation vessel and strain liquid from bananas over apples and figs. Add tartaric acid, nutrient, and half the sugar syrup. Cover and allow to cool, adding pectic enzyme and activated yeast. Cover and allow to ferment five days, stirring daily. Strain liquor carefully through fine nylon sieve and add the grape concentrate. After further 10 days, add 1/2 cup sugar syrup and repeat every three days until all has been added. Add sufficient water to bring to one gallon. When fermentation is complete (additional 10-14 days), rack into large enough secondary fermentation vessel (1-1/2 to 2 gallon) to allow fair amount of air above wine. Plug opening with cotton. Normally, that is the only racking in sherry production, but if pulp particles appear in sediment, rack again after two weeks and plug again with cotton. Store secondary fermentation vessel in cool (55-60 degrees F.) place and leave undisturbed. Flor may form in 3-4 weeks or as late as 4 months. Flor should not form, but if it does, leave undisturbed until all flor has sunk to bottom. Carefully siphon off lees through double layer of fine muslin into bottles. If flor does not form, allow to sit six months, carefully siphon into clean gallon bottle, sweeten with sufficient white grape concentrate or sugar water (1/3 lb. sugar dissolved in one cup water) to top up to one gallon, and then bottle. Allow at least four years to mature. [Adapted from Bryan Acton and Peter Duncan’s Making Wines Like Those You Buy]