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Wash the raisins, chop them coarsely or bung them in a blender, and boil them gently in
enough water to cover them for 20 minutes, topping up if you need to. Strain the raisins out
and keep the juice.
Scrub the parsnips clean, slice them fairly thinly (don't peel) and boil in the rest of the water
till tender. Remove the parsnips (they're good and eatable, mash with some butter and
nutmeg for dinner!) and add into the water your sugar, lemon zest and juice, and yeast
nutrient. Boil it for 10 minutes or so, and then put it into your fermenting bucket. Stir in a
broken up campden tablet when its a bit cooler. Cover tightly and leave it till tomorrow, when
you need to activate the yeast and pitch it in. Ferment and rack as normal. If clearing is slow,
add in pectic enzyme or amylase.
Parsnip wine is good about 6 months after bottling, but it needs a year to reach its prime.
Diane Worthington
Next issue published Summer Solstice
2014