Passion Fruit Wine (1)

• 4 lbs passion fruit
• 2-1/4 lbs finely granulated sugar
• 7 pts unsweetened white grape juice from reconstituted concentrate
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• 1/2 oz pectic enzyme
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Lalvin 71B-1122 (Narbonne) (1st choice) or
• Lalvin D-47 (Côtes-du-Rhône) wine yeast

Clean fruit and discard any that are unsound or under-ripe. Chop fruit coarsely and place in nylon straining bag, saving any juice that emits during chopping. Tie bag and place with juice in primary. Crush fruit well with hands. Add sugar, crushed Campden, yeast energizer, and white grape juice. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme, recover primary and set aside another 12 hours. Add activated yeast and recover primary. Squeeze bag and stir must daily until specific gravity drops between 1.010 and 1.015 (about 5-7 days of vigorous fermentation). Drip drain pulp (squeeze bag gently only), rack into secondary, top up, and fit airlock. Ferment to dryness, racking every 30 days until wine clears. Stabilize and sweeten if desired, although it is best as a dry wine. Wait 10 days and rack into bottles. Aging of this wine depends on its astringency. Taste after 6 months and age longer if not ready. May take a year. Served chilled. [Author’s own recipe]