Gooseberry and Apricot

  • 680g tin of gooseberries in syrup
  • 225g tinned or fresh apricots or 112g dried
  • 450g bananas
  • 245g white grape concentrate
  • 3g citric acid
  • 5g Yeast nutrient
  • Gervin No 5 yeast
  • 5g pectic enzyme
  • 1kg sugar

Place the gooseberries and syrup in the fermenting bucket, macerating them as you do so. Stone the apricots if fresh, and crush them, together with the gooseberries. Peel the bananas, cut them into small pieces, and simmer with 1 litre of water in a saucepan for 20 minutes, then tip the pan’s contents into the bucket. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. When cool, 20 - 21oC add the rest of the ingredients, 1.5 litres of cold water and the yeast. Cover closely and leave in a warm spot, stirring daily. After 7 days, strain through a nylon sieve over a funnel into a demijohn, topping up to the shoulder of the jar by ‘rinsing’ the pulp with lukewarm water. Fit an airlock and leave it to ferment to completion in the normal way. Rack from the lees when the fermentation has ended, add a crushed campden tablet and leave the wine to clear, fining if necessary.