Pumpkin Wine

A while ago I wrote about the lucky pumpkins that escape destruction on Halloween and become pumpkin wine. Since then I’ve had some people ask for more details about it. My sister came over and we got started on another batch of it on Sunday, so it seems like a good opportunity to write about it.

My sister made the first batch of pumpkin wine that I ever had. She’s made two batches since then, one of which didn’t work well. A good chunk of the most recent batch is lurking about in my wine cellar, waiting for some good food to go with… It has a remarkably complex flavor for such simple stuff. It’s sweet flavored, but with an astringent effect on the mouth like some dry white wines I’ve had. Hopefully, this fourth batch will be up to the standards of the third.

There’s a whole lot of stuff about the winemaking process that I’m kind of glossing over of course. Making sure you’ve got all of your carboys and equipment sterilized, selecting the right yeast for your fermenting conditions, having a big tray or something under your carboy to catch all the goop from when it overflows… Get a good book on winemaking for the details. Keep it handy… You’ll need some reading material.

To start with, you need about 15-25 pounds of peeled, seeded pumpkin. Pumpkin is a strange combination of textures, most of which are sticky or slimy. And the slimy bits dry into sticky ones. If you cut yourself while peeling pumpkins, you’ll discover that it’s also slightly acidic and it stings when it gets into your cut. Getting 25 pounds of pale pumpkin chunks is a whole lot of not much fun. And then you have to grate them.

I use a salad shooter. It’s a thousand times faster than a grater, and easier on the knuckles and fingertips. I wish there were as simple a machine for doing the original peeling and gutting…

Anyway, toss the pumpkin shreds into a huge cooking pot along with 4 1/2 gallons of water. Heat it to a rolling boil and let it cook for 20 minutes. You may want to have a good book handy. It takes a long time for that mass of water to start boiling.

After it’s boiled, turn it off and let it cool. You may get a chance to finish that book. I’m letting this batch go overnight. This’ll also let the pulp from the pumpkin shreds settle out some.

Strain the liquid into a 5 gallon carboy along with 10 pounds of sugar (or honey) and the juice of three large lemons. Add wine making yeast and let it work for two days. After that, add a water lock so that air can’t get in and let it sit around until it stops working and becomes clear.

This will take months. But at the end of it all you’ll have a tasty wine that goes really well with turkey and similar fowl.

Here’s an easier to read summation of the recipe:

Pumpkin Wine

4.5 gallons water
15-25 pounds shredded pumpkin
10-12 pounds sugar or honey
3 large lemons
1 package merlot yeast (or similar)

Boil shredded pumpkin for 15-20 minutes. Cool and strain into carboy with sugar and lemon juice. Add yeast. Allow to ferment for two days before attaching water lock.