Carrot Wine Recipe – Light & Delicate Root Wine

I know vegetable wines have a severe image problem but when you try this carrot wine you will change your mind.

When you think about it some vegetables can be intensely sweet. Beetroot, parsnip, carrots are vegetables that contain a fair amount of sugar and this is great for making wine. Carrots make a wine that is golden and bright, the flavour mellow but helped along with some other ingredients carrot wine is delicious.

Carrots are great for making wine when not much else is in season. Let’s be fair and say that carrot wine isn’t going to ever be as desirable as a blackberry or strawberry wine but you might be surprised at how nice it can be.

Carrots are really cheap and you can probably buy the amount needed to make this wine for less than £1 or £2. I like to look for the smaller sweeter varieties but great big woody carrots will work as well.

Boosting Flavour

Raisins and honey work well with this carrot wine as they boost the flavour and add some much-needed body. Carrots alone will make a wine that is fairly thin and insipid. 

Carrot wine is a great wine to add spices too. Star anise, cloves and cinnamon are all good options but they are best added in small amounts to avoid overpowering the wine and ending up with something that tastes more like mulled wine than a spiced carrot wine.

Preparing Carrots For Wine Making

The good thing about making wine with carrots is you won’t need to peel them all.

There is a lot of flavour and colour compounds that are close to the surface and in the skin of carrots so peeling them is counterproductive.

This does mean they need a thorough clean and scrub to remove any soil or dirt on the skin. 

The carrots will need chopping quite thoroughly. As with any starchy or woody vegetable for making wine the more surface area the better.

I find a food processor the best way to do this quickly. If you have a slicer attachment then it is a simple case of feeding in carrot after carrot. 

If you haven’t got a food processor then I’m afraid you’ll have to slice all the carrots by hand.

What You’ll Need To Make Carrot Wine – Makes 1 gallon / 4.5 litres

• Large Stock Pot
• Small Fermenting Bucket
• Demijohn
• Syphon
• Fine Straining Bag
• Airlock & Bung

Carrot Wine Ingredients

• 2.5kg Carrots
• 4 litres Water
• 900g Sugar
• 400g Honey
• 250g Golden Raisins (roughly chopped)
• 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
• 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 1 Campden Tablet
• 1 Sachet Wine Yeast such as Montrachet 

Carrot Wine Recipe

Scrub and clean the carrots but you can leave them peeled. Cut into thin slices either by hand or using the slicer attachment on a food processor.

Place the sliced carrot in a large pot with half the water. Slowly bring the pan to a simmer and add the sugar and honey. Simmer the carrots in the sugar solution for 10 minutes. The carrots should be tender but hold their shape. Turn off the heat and add the chopped raisins.

In a clean, sanitised fermenting bucket place the straining bag. Pour the hot sugar solution along with the carrots and raisins into the bucket. The carrot and raisins can be secured in the straining bag and left in the bucket.

Add the remaining water and then add the Campden tablet. Cover the fermenting bucket and let the mixture sit for 24 hours.

After 24 hours add the pectin and mix thoroughly, finally add the yeast by sprinkling on the surface of the must. Cover the fermenting vessel with the lid and airlock and allow the fermentation to begin.

After 48 hours or so the fermentation should show signs of activity. Allow the primary fermentation to continue for around 7 days. After a week lift the straining bag with the carrots and raisins in and discard. Let the wine sit overnight.

After settling overnight, rack the carrot wine to a demijohn/carboy. Fit a bung and airlock and allow the wine to finish fermentation and begin to condition.

The wine will need to condition in the demijohn for at least 3 months and up to 6 would be better. Rack the carrot wine to a new demijohn whenever sediment builds up and the wine has cleared. Racking once or twice is fine.

After ageing for 3 – 6 months in the demijohn it is time to bottle. Sample the wine and if you need to back sweeten the wine then follow this guide on how to do that.

Once bottled it is a good idea to set the carrot wine aside for a little while. I like to sample some after a few months and the wine will continue to change and evolve as it ages in the bottle.