METHOD:

Pick fruit when they are fully ripe black-purple if you can fight off the birds and other people.

1. Wash and remove stems, leaves, and badly bruised fruit.

2. The pits are too large to remove, so mash cherries without breaking the bitter pits. Using nylon straining bag, mash and squeeze out juice into primary fermentor. Keeping all pulp in straining bag, tie top and place in primary.

3. Stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT yeast. Cover primary.

4.After 24 hrs. , add yeast. Cover primary.

5. Stir daily, check S.G. and press pulp lightly to aid extraction.

6. When ferment reaches S.G. 1.030 (about 5 days) strain juice from bag. Siphon wine off sediment into glass jug secondary. Attach airlock.

7. When ferment is complete (S.G. has dropped to 1.000 -- about 3 weeks ; NOTE: Dessert wine recipe may finish higher) siphon off sediment into clean secondary. Reattach lock.

8. To aid clearing, siphon again in 2 months and again if necessary before bottling.

Here is a dinner wine that can be left dry or slightly sweetened. Before bottling add 1/2 tsp. Stabilizer, then, 1/4 lb. dissolved Sugar per gallon.

VARIETIES

Chokecherries (Aronia L.) are 3'-8' shrubs with small white flowers and 1/4" round, red to black fruit ripening Aug.-Nov. Red fall color. Black (A. melanocarpa), Red (A. arbutifolia), and Purple (A. prunifolia). Chokecherries are found wild and in nurseries. Shubert Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is from cherry family (Prunus L.) so use sour cherry recipe.