Stone and berry fruits and wild fruits
These kinds of fruit (individual varieties are discussed in the recipes) should be processed immediately after harvest, when they are fully ripe. They cannot be stored and begin to mold and deteriorate very quickly.
• It is always recommended to wash fruit before turning it into wine. But actually only pome fruits can be washed with water without any loss of quality. However, the same cannot be said of the delicate stone and berry fruits, especially then, when they are very mature. Making wine from these fruits, it is subjected to the fermentation process, which is synonymous with a thorough purification process, during which all impurities and harmful substances precipitate with the yeast and are removed during the dressing of the wine. So: fruit for juice should be washed, but the fruit for wine is not washed.
• Pick the fruit carefully, paying attention to it, in order to damage them as little as possible. They must never come into contact with iron, zinc or copper, nor in the dishes, to which they are collected, nor then in the grinder or press. The acid in the fruit reacts with the metal, which changes color and adversely affects the taste. Therefore, cookware made of a material other than metal should be used, and all metal devices should be covered with a special acid-resistant varnish.
• Ten, who does not have their own garden and cannot dispose of the crops from the neighbor's garden, he will have to buy fruit for wine. To, as has been said above about the fruit varieties best suited for making wine, it concerns especially the latter case. The noble varieties of dessert apples are virtually unsuitable for wine production due to their low juice yield and minimal sugar and acid content. Often their aroma leaves much to be desired. For this reason alone, many fruit amateurs are returning to naturally grown old traditional varieties. About the quality of naturally grown fruit, bioorganic or biodynamic fruit, which can be purchased at specialized health food stores, their impeccable appearance proves them, but their taste and smell.
• It is better then to buy wormy ones, but sweet and usable apples, than even very decorative, but a bland and tasteless variety.
• Making wine is a great seasonal hobby, the cost of which should not be high, it is therefore worth studying advertisements in the press during the harvest period. If the order is large enough, fruit growers willingly sell their fruit at lower prices than at the market. It is often mentioned in press announcements, how the fruit was fertilized and what plant protection products were used.
