In winemaking, gooseberry takes one of the first places among other berries, since the wine from its berries resembles grape in taste and aroma. Almost all gooseberry varieties are suitable for winemaking, although the most delicious wine comes from varieties with large yellow berries and red berries, although the latter sometimes give the wine herbaceous flavor. Dry, table, sweet and dessert wines of various colors with a delicate bouquet are prepared from gooseberries.
It is not by chance that the gooseberry was called the “northern grape”. Its berries are somewhat reminiscent of grapes, and they also make a wonderful wine, which is considered the best in taste among fruit and berry wines and is close to grape in quality. It is relatively easy to make gooseberry dessert wine at home. To do this, add about the same amount of water and 350 grams of sugar to a liter of pure juice. Further, the wine is prepared according to the usual technology. It becomes harmonious and soft in taste after about six months.
Gooseberries can be used to make wines of all sorts and of very high quality, especially after good aging. But the best of gooseberry wines are strong and dessert wines, which in taste and bouquet resemble wines like sherry.
In order to get quality gooseberry wine, you need to consider a few tips from winemakers:
- for making wine, it is better to take unripe berries rather than overripe ones, since overripe berries lose their taste and aroma, the wine turns out to be cloudy;
- the berries should be processed immediately after collection, since during storage they lose their aromatic properties;
- for making wine, only carefully selected berries should be used, removing all spoiled ones;
- in order to make the wine more aromatic, it is better, after crushing the berries by crushing, to let the resulting pulp stand for 2-3 days in a cold place, and only then press it;
- table wines made from highly diluted gooseberry juice often acquire an unpleasant odor, so it is better not to dilute the juice with water more than twice; or replace the water with the juice of any slightly acidic summer apples or pears. It is for this reason that gooseberry table wines are usually prepared in a mixture with white currants or other berries;
- depending on the color of the gooseberry berries, wines of different shades of yellow are obtained: golden yellow, greenish yellow or dark yellow;
- table gooseberry wines have a rather pungent taste and characteristic aftertaste, which is not found in strong and sweet wines made from this berry.
Experts give a very high tasting assessment of gooseberry wines - up to 9 points on a 10-point scale. Gooseberry wine is especially popular in France. For the preparation of dry, semi-sweet wines, as a rule, the following varieties are used: Russian, Slaboshipovaty 3, Kazachok; and for dessert wines - Prune, Chernomor, Plum, Yubilyar.