There is no need for me to mention the enormous popularity this branch of home wine-making enjoys, or that countless thousands of people all over the world embark with tremendous enthusiasm each summer upon turning wild fruits and surplus garden fruits into fruit wines fit to grace the tables of a banqueting hall. Just let me say that, no matter how advanced methods become and how easily obtainable special ingredients for wine making are, there will always be in the hearts of everyone a place for the true country fruit wines, for they have that indefinable 'something' which sets them apart from all others, a uniqueness that cannot be found in any other wine either commercial or home produced.

The fruit wines making methods I use myself are described here, and although they are the simplest and the surest ever evolved, it is necessary to point out the complications that arise if these methods are not used.

Years ago and, I am very sorry to say, even today many thousands of unfortunate home makers of fruit wines are following methods which advocate: 'crush the fruits, add the water and leave to ferment'. Other methods advise boiling the fruits. In both cases disappointment is almost a certainty, and the reason for this is easy enough to understand.

The grey-white bloom that forms on grapes and other fruits is yeast put there by nature and it may be said that the first wine known to early man was the result of this yeast fermenting fruits crushed for a purpose other than wine-making. In the ordinary way, this yeast might well make good wine if allowed to ferment alone. Unfortunately, with this yeast comes what we term 'undesirable' yeast (wild yeast), and several kinds of bacteria each of which can ruin our wines. They bring about what we call 'undesirable' ferments that usually take place at the same time as the ferment we want to take place so that instead of a wine of quality the result is one tasting of flat beer or cloudy evil-smelling liquid fit only for disposal. Another bacterium, known as the vinegar bacterium, will turn fruit wines into vinegar.

Since there is nothing we can do when any of these calamities has occurred, they must be prevented from happening.

Clearly, we must destroy all these enemies before beginning. The simplest method is of course at first thought, anyway is to boil the fruits. But here arises another problem. All fruits contain pectin, a glutinous substance which causes jams to 'set'. Boiling fruit releases pectin. This pectin holds itself and minute solids in suspension, giving the fruit wines a cloudiness that is impossible to clarify or even filter out. We may put the crushed fruit through a jelly-bag to remove every particle of pectin-bearing fruit and then boil the juice only, but this is a messy, tedious job that takes hours and eliminates all the pleasure from wine-making.

Obviously, what we need is a method which will destroy the wild yeast and bacteria on the fruits (as boiling does) without actually boiling, and, indeed, without heating our fruits at all because it needs very little heat to bring out the pectin.

Our method, known as the 'sulphiting' method, does just this and produces full-bodied, crystal-clear fruit wines easily and quickly without fuss or bother. All that is necessary to achieve this are tablets costing a halpenny each. Campden fruit-preserving tablets are available at most chemists in bottles of twenty costing tenpence. In the ordinary way and provided the fruit is not too heavily affected with wild yeast and bacteria one tablet will destroy the undesirable element contained in one gallon of crushed fruit pulp, but we cannot be sure of this. Now, two tablets will surely do this, but being a comparatively heavy dose this might also destroy the yeast we shall be adding so that the ferment we desire does not take place. My method takes care of both these risks, not only destroying the wild yeast and bacteria on the fruits, but also allowing the yeast we add to ferment alone and unhindered to produce fruit wines of clarity and quality the like of which cannot be produced by any other method. By adding one Campden tablet to a good deal less than one gallon of fruit pulp ('must') this will represent a rough equivalent to two tablets per gallon. But before we add our yeasts we shall have increased the amount of liquid or pulp to nearly twice the amount, consequently reducing the amount of sterilizing solution to half or the equivalent of one Campden tablet per gallon. In this way we achieve our overall aim.

Each Campden fruit-preserving tablet contains four grains of sodium metabisulphite; therefore, any makers of fruit wines finding Campden tablets in short supply may ask their chemist for four grains of sodium metabisulphite (or potassium metabisulphite there being two forms), and use this. But because a chemist would find a single order for four grains rather trivial, it would be best to ask for say, six or ten packets each containing four grains. If you are making two-gallon lots of wine the amount to use would be eight grains. Do not be tempted to buy by the ounce and measure out a grain as this is impossible unless you have the appropriate scales.

Just in case you happen to be one of those makers of fruit wines who, even in these enlightened days, abhors the use of chemicals, let me assure you that sulphur dioxide (the solution which results when Campden tablets are dissolved) is quite harmless to humans when used in the proportions recommended. Indeed, as many as eight tablets (thirty-two grains) may be used with safety, but such heavy dosing would prevent a 'must' fermenting.

The sulphiting method is used by the trade, so we shall be following a method well tired and proved.

Heaven knows how many hundreds of gallons of fruit wines I have made by this method and all with the same unfailing success.

Method 1 makes wines of the heavier type; their flavours are more pronounced and their colour more full than those produced by method 2. Those wishing for lighter fruit wines more suitable for serving with meals should use method 2. The main difference in the two methods is that we ferment the fruit pulp itself in method 1, and the juice only in method 2. It will be appreciated that when fermenting the pulp we must as a matter of course get far more from our fruits. But we do not want too much in a light wine otherwise the subtle difference between a heavier wine and the popular lighter wines is lost.

The short pulp ferment of method 1 ensures that we get all the flavour and desirable chemical matter from our fruits in the right proportion.

The best method to use for each type of fruit is given with each recipe. It should be taken into account that varied amounts of fruit and sugar with the use of the proper method produce distinctly different types of fruit wines.