The Cottage Smallholder

I've been planning to make a sparkling rhubarb wine this summer. We don't have any rhubarb in our garden so we're going to pay a visit to the local pick your own farm because it's way cheaper than the supermarkets.

Someone suggested that the best way of extracting the juice is to chop and freeze the stalks then let them defrost and use the juices which come out. 6lb per gallon of wine seems to be typical.

When I make flavoured wines with a white wine base, I start with 2 litres of white grape juice and 1 litre of apple juice. Add some pectolase, yeast nutrient, whatever extra flavouring is being used, and finally the yeast. When it starts fermenting I then to up to 1 gallon.

To make a sparkling wine, I use plastic bottles and prime with a teaspoon of sugar - I've successfully made elderflower fizz using this method. Since rhubarb needs slight sweetening, the wine might need some sweetener adding - not extra sugar because that will ferment and likely cause the bottles to explode