Now that the fresh fruit season has started in the South, I thought I would share with you what I consider to be the secrets to making a great country wine.  By country wine, I refer to all wines that are made with anything besides grapes.  This would include raspberry, blackberry, apple, etc., I make the distinction as grapes have all of the "goodies" necessary to make wine and if the grapes are harvested at the right time, the wine will basically make itself.  Other fruits don't necessary have the proper amount of acid, tannin, nutrients or sugar, and therefore, require some additives and adjustment.  However, treated properly, you can make a great wine out of almost anything!

My "secrets" are as follows:

1.  Start with the best ingredients possible.  I will refer to the basic raw material as fruit, but you can use non-fruits like dandelions, prickly pear cactus and lilacs.  Just like making a pie, jelly or muffins, you want to use good, sound fruit.  In addition, you want to remove the seeds, pits and stems when possible as well as any damaged or questionable areas.  This may mean that you need more fruit than you thought, but you will be rewarded for your investment.  Remember, "The better the fruit, the better the wine!"

2.  Keep the alcohol down!  Too much alcohol will overpower the delicate fruit flavors.  I never exceed 12% in a country wine.

3.  Adjust the acid BEFORE you start.  Most fruits do not have enough acid.  As a result, you will need to add acid to raise it to a good level.  I would suggest .60% as a minimum target, but don't exceed .70%.  The notable exception is native American grapes like mustang and muscadine.  They tend to have way too much acid and you will need to dilute the juice to drop the acid down.

4.  Don't rack (transfer) the wine too much.  The wine should be in the carboys around 6 months, which should give you time to rack 3 times.  Remember, every time you rack, you lose volume and I don't like to waste wine!

5.  Use the hydrometer to determine when the fermentation has finished.  Judging the completion of the fermentation process by watching the airlock can and will provide you with false information.

6.  Keep good notes.  If you make a bad wine, you can review your notes to see where you went wrong, and more importantly, when you make that awesome wine, you can repeat it.

7.  Clean and sanitize everything that touches your wine.  We recommend an oxygen based cleanser like EasyClean, One-Step or B-Brite.  Then, give everything a rinse with a sulfite solution.  This will significantly reduce the chance of getting any harmful bacteria in your wine.

8.  The last secret is the hardest of all.  Show patience!  Country wines take time.  Personally, I would never plan to have a country wine ready for drinking in less than 1 year.  Many country wines require more than a year of aging to become a good tasting wine.

If you follow these simple guidelines, your chances of creating a wonderful country wine that you will be proud to share with your friends and relatives will be greatly improved.