Canned Peach or Pear Wine
- 32 oz canned peaches or pears
- 1 lb 11 oz granulated sugar (approximate)
- 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 2 tsp. acid blend
- 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
- 1/4 tsp. grape tannin
- 3-1/2 qts. water
- 1 crushed Campden tablet
- 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
- Champagne yeast
Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile, drain the fruit but save the liquid they were canned in. Chop fruit and put in nylon straining bag. Tie bag and put in primary. Add orange juice. When water boils, remove from heat and add liquid from canned fruit. Stir in 1 lb. sugar and stir until dissolved. Measure S.G. and continue adding sugar (1/4 cup at a time, then stir to dissolve) until S.G. reaches 1.088-1.090. When S.G. is right, pour sweetened water over fruit. Add acid blend, tannin, yeast nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet and stir. Cover with cloth, wait 12 hours, then add pectic enzyme. Recover, wait additional 12 hours, then add yeast. When fermentation is very active (1-2 days later), stir and push bag of fruit under. Don’t worry if it floats back up. Ferment 5 days, stirring daily and pushing bag under liquid several times. Drip drain (don’t squeeze) the bag and return drained juices to primary. Discard fruit. Allow liquid to settle, then siphon off sediments into sterile secondary and fit air lock. Rack after two months and again after additional two months, topping up each time. Wait final two months, add stabilizer, wait additional 10 days, and rack again. Sweeten to taste with up to 1/4 cup sugar dissolved in 1/8 cup water and bottle the wine. Allow 6 months aging before tasting. Well-canned fruit will have produced good wine by now. If the wine tastes less than expected, allow to age another 6 months. [Author’s recipe, with a little help from Terry Garey’s The Joy of Home Winemaking ]