Peach Wine Recipe
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Peach Wine Recipe – Summer In A Glass

Peach Wine Recipe

If you are looking to make a sweetly scented, summery tasting wine then this peach wine is a winner. A lightly coloured, almost pinky, orange coloured wine with fruity fragrances and simple to make too, all you need is a glut of peaches (or nectarines) and a few basic wine making ingredients.

Peaches Are Great For Wine Making

Peaches have quite a high sugar content in comparisons to fruits like berries at the same time they have quite a lot of acidity which makes them a great fruit to make wine with.

The sugar content can also be boosted if you let the peaches ripen further. Peaches like nectarines, bananas, pears and similar fruits continue ripening after being picked. This process can also be speeded up by keeping them in brown paper bags or next to bananas. This additional ripening boosts the sugar content which makes them all the better for winemaking.

The trick is, of course, getting the peaches overripe without them going bad. This is something you have to decide for yourself, much like a vintner deciding when to harvest their grapes. The thing to remember though is the riper the peaches the better the wine.

Can You Use Nectarines?

Nectarines are pretty much exactly the same as peaches so you can use them interchangeably. The only difference between peaches and nectarines is that peaches have fuzzy or downy skin.

We do not remove the skin when making the wine so it doesn’t matter which you use. If there is a choice then use the ripest or sweetest fruit you can find.

Preparing Peaches For Wine Making

Peaches are easy to get ready for winemaking although it is laborious it is pretty simple to work your way through a batch of peaches.

As with any fruit make sure you give them a good wash under running water.

As I mentioned you want the peaches as ripe as possible without being rotten. If you have any bad spots on the peaches trim these away with a knife.

You now need to remove the stones from the peaches. Some peaches are grown with stones that slip out easily others you may have to trim around with a knife. You know which one is going to be easier.

Cut the peaches into quarters and you are good to start making wine with them.

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

Peach Wine Ingredients

Method

Begin by heating half the water in a large pan. Stir in all the sugar to dissolve, and keep an eye on it to ensure the sugar doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan. Bring the pan to a boil and simmer for a few minutes and remove from the heat.

While the water and sugar are heating add the straining bag and place it in the sanitised fermenting vessel. Add the prepared peaches and mash the fruit to begin breaking it down. Once the peaches have been thoroughly broken up secure the fruit in the bag.

Pour the hot sugar solution over the peaches in the fermenting vessel and give everything a mix. Add the remaining water which will drop the temperature down. Allow to cool to room temperature and then add a crushed Campden tablet and stir.

12 hours after the Campden tablet add the acid blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and wine tannin. Allow 24 hours before proceeding with the next step. If you want to take a hydrometer reading now is a good time to do so.

After 24 hours it is time to pitch the yeast. Rehydrate as per the packet instructions or alternatively pitch by sprinkling directly onto the surface of the wine must. Secure with the lid and airlock.

After a few days, the fermentation should spring into life. Each day you will need to give the fruit in the bag a gentle swirl and stir to keep things rotated and ensure a good extraction. Do this for 7 days before lifting out the bag with the now spent peaches. Allow to drain thoroughly without squeezing and secure the fermenter with the lid and airlock again.

Allow the peach wine 2 – 3 days to settle. The majority of fermentation will have died down and now is the time to transfer the wine to a demijohn. Syphon the wine to a demijohn and secure with a bung and airlock.

Allow the wine to condition and mature in the demijohn for at least 3 months, but preferably, for longer, 5-6 months would be great. Rack to a clean demijohn at intervals as sediment builds up.

After conditioning, the wine should be clear, as I say the wine will improve considerably as it matures. Sample the wine and if you want you can back sweeten to taste and stabilise the wine using this guide for help. Bottle the wine and set aside as long as your patience will hold out.

This peach wine is a great, light summer drinking wine and really worth the effort, so give this a go and you won’t be disappointed.

13 replies
  1. Paul
    Paul says:

    I have just started the cherry recipe, tomorrow morning I will be adding the yeast and then rock and roll!
    I have a quick question about this recipe though which I’d also like to start…Is the weight of the fruit before or after removing stones? I know it probably wont make much difference, but worth knowing which way you did it πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. Jayne Endres
    Jayne Endres says:

    If you can’t get hold of fresh peaches can you use dried peaches I like sweet wine so out of the two which would be best

    Reply
  3. Ronnie
    Ronnie says:

    Hey, just finished canning peaches and decided to make some wine while peaches are in season here in the Northwest and read your recipe. First of all, I plan to make a 5 to 6 gallon batch and wondered if multiplying your recipe would produce the same results ?
    I weighed the peaches I just canned and they averaged about 200g ea. and the stone was 9 to 10g if that helps anyone. I noticed you mentioned 4.5 liters, that amount equals an imperial gallon, but in a 6 U.S. gallon batch it’s a wash, about 22 liters either way.

    Reply
    • Neil
      Neil says:

      Multiplying the ingredients in the recipe will work out correctly. You won’t need to add multiple sachets of yeast depending on the type you buy. Most home brew wine yeasts will ferment 5 gallons on their own so you’ll just need to multiply the other ingredients by the amount of your recipe.

      Cheers

      Reply

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