Anyone try Tomato Wine

[husker nana]

I went to a garden center yesterday and they have a pepper workshop coming up. For those that attend they will attend another workshop at the end of the season on canning.

What is interesting that he said canning of tomato's, salsa's, and then said tomato wine. I had never heard of tomato wine. Googled it today and what a surprise to see that their is such a thing.

Has anyone tasted or made tomato wine and if so was it worth using your tomato's in that way?

[RinTinTin]

I have never tried it (never even seen it), but I would imagine it would take very many tomatoes to make a batch.

I would much rather have a good Barbaresco wine to go with my tomato sauce.

[Marko]

I've never tried tomato wine, but I tried tomato vinegar and it was fantastic.

[carolyn137]

There are quite a few folks who do make tomato wine. I haven't and don't intend to but someone sent me a bottle of wine made from Riesentraube tomatoes, yes, the little ones, and that variety was known in years past to be used for that purpose.

And I though it was excellent. It tasted like a dry sherry and was a lovely pale amber color. The person who made it also wrote an article about doing so, and a recipe, in one of the issues of Off the Vine, an international newsletter on heirloom tomatoes that Craig LeHoullier and I used to publish back in the early 90's.

[husker nana]

Thanks for sharing that information about the tomato wine. I think I'll have to see if I can't find that recipe from Off the Vine.

I found some recipes last night and e-mailed them to sister-in-law as her husband makes wine. Their daughter's husband makes beer.

They live in Colo. and say that they have trouble growing tomato's but I want to take them some of my starters tomato's and see what they can get to grow. He loves to make different wines so I know that he will try making the wine and of course I'm going to push for a bottle or two.

[dokutaaguriin]

I have found that if you let Green Grape get over-ripe then it tastes like a nice German Reisling.

Jeff

[carolyn137]

Thanks for sharing that information about the tomato wine. I think I'll have to see if I can't find that recipe from Off the Vine.


****

And you would look where to find copies of Off the Vine? Or were you a subscriber to OTV and have all the copies yourself?

if Craig leHoullier's site yes, he's copied some but most of them reside in large boxes at the end of the jacuzzi tub in my Master bathroom. No, I don't use that jacuzzi.

So if you can't find the recipe in what Craig has posted and you weren't a subscriber please let me know and when I have time I can see if I can find the issue with the recipe.

Jeff, sounds good for your kind of wine and I know folks make all sorts of wine from all sorts of veggies and fruits. An Italian lady who lived near where I was brought up always made dandeline wine and she also made rhubarb wine, from out dandelines and our rhubarb, and she always wanted to dig up the burdock roots and of course we were dlighted she wanted them as well.

[husker nana]

Carorlyn I was not a a subscriber to OTV so I guess I won't have much success in finding the recipe from that issue.

My plan was to google it.

I'll dig around the net but you make it sound like I won't have much success. I will try to find Craig leHoullier's site.

At the risk of looking even more naive.... I take it that Jeff is the name of a tomato that you are suggesting to use for wine making?

My brother-in-law gave us some of his rhubarb wine. I've tried growing that twice without success. Had no problem with a transplant at other house.

My grandmother from Italy made wine from dandelines but I was to young to be able to sample that. First time us kids went out to pick them for her we came in with just the pretty flowers.

Sum this all up.....if you happen to find the recipe that would be great. It's always better to have one that someone has already tried. Were adding canning (work shop) plus wine making to our list this year so have bookmarked a couple of recipes. Even seen one for Tomato Volka.

[carolyn137]

No, you won't find the recipe by Googling and of course you're welcome to go to Craig's website anytime but I think it would be easier if I just ask him if he displays the issue with the recipe and if not then I could look for that issue here. He has a photograpic memory, much to my chagrin, but it works well for me and for him when a pice of info is needed. I do OK, but don't have perfect memory, and that's b'c I'm an older lady.

The tomato variety that was used for the recipe was Riesentraube, a cherry tomato, not one called jeff, and while I know a variety called Jefferson Giant and one called Jeff Davis, I don't of one just called Jeff.

[dustdevil]

Carolyn,

Did this ever come to fruition?

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=2736

Dust

[habitat_gardener]

Here's the issue and the title, but ithe text is not online.
http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/OffTheVineIndex.htm

Volume #2, Issue #1
Published in May 1995
Riesentraube Wine...WW Weaver


Or look at page 92 at
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZD2...page&q&f=false

[stromato]

A very quick check did not find it posted on Craig's site, but his index indicates it is in Vol#2, Iss#1 (May '95) of Off the Vine. --called away during reply so I didn't see you had already posted issue, habitat gardener, thanks.

Kind of hate to encourage Carolyn to dig around in old files, but since I've often seen the results of other tomato wine recipes described as "nasty", I'd also be interested in OTV's (by Weaver?!) Riesentraube wine recipe.

[retiree]

I have that issue right here but have to go out now but can post it later on this morning.
I will unless someone beats me to it.
Neil G. (Canada)

[retiree]

Tomato Wine: Weaver's Method

1 gallon (4 Liters) Tomato juice
3 lbs. (1 1/2 kg.)white granulated sugar
2 cups (500ml.)elderberry wine or port (optional)
1 teaspoon dry yeast

To make the juice, quarter the fruit and remove the seeds. Put the fruit in a deep, non-reactive stewing pan(preferably stainless steel) and pour over this 2 quarts (2 liters) of boiling bottled spring water.Do not use chemically treated water. Cover and bring the fruit to a slow boil(about 20 minutes), then remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the fruit into a strainer and gently press out all of the pulp and liquid. Measure out the juice. To each gallon (4 liters) add 3 lbs. (1 1/2 kg.) of sugar, mixing the juice and sugar together ina large, clean, 5 gallon (20 liter) crock. Add the optional elderberry wine or port, and when the mixture cools to room temperature, add the yeast. For a quantity of liquid over 10 gallons (40 litres) add 1 tablespoon of dry yeast, but not more.


Cover the crock with cheesecloth and set the wine aside in a warm place to ferment. When fermentation ceases (this will depend on weather conditions as much as room temperature) transfer the wine to sanitized half-gallon jugs. If the wine appears a little frisky, DO NOT CAP THE JUGS OR THEY WILL EXPLODE.Let the wine rest until it is perfectly still, then cap the jugs and let the wine age. As it ages, sediment will accumulate in the bottom of the jugs and the wine will gradually clarify. Once it is clear it may be bottled up into wine bottles, corked, and put down to age like any grape wine.

From "Off The Vine" Vol. 2 Number 1 May 1995.

[carolyn137]

Well thank you Neil, who I assume still has every issue of OTV that we published. it sure saves me some time and you can mover faster than I can.

Dust, no, nothing has gone further re that thread, well a bit further. Since none of my articles are at Craig's website he was able to get some/most? of them digitized and sent them to me and they're somewhere in my computer.

But the whole goal is to update and make comments of all the articles written by either Craig or myself. It just hasn't been at the top of any priority list for either of us.