"I have aquired 3 bushels of quince. Do you have a recipe for quince wine?" Tom & Jill Fleming, Gibsonia, PA
The Asian Quince, or Cydonia Oblonga, is native to western Asia and has been imported throughout the world. The plants is a small tree producing white flowers and tart, aromatic, many-seeded, apple-like fruit that are edible only when cooked.
The following recipe makes a gallon of wine with a strong, individualistic bouquet. The wine can be problematic in several ways. If the fruit pulp is over-cooked, the wine will resist clarifying. If the cooked pulp is squeezed rather than drip drained, the wine will resist clarifying. If any yeast but Montrachet is used, the wine can take an extraordinarily long time to ferment to dryness, and even Montrachet will be slowed by the quince. The Champagne yeast, however, is better suited to the tart quince. I leave it to you to decide. Finally, the wine will not impress the drinker until it has aged from one to two years, but it is still drinkable, although unremarkable, while young. To make more than one gallon, multiply the ingredient quantities by the number of gallons desired.
Grate the quinces as close to the core as possible without including seeds. Boil pulp in water for 15 minutes (not longer or wine may not clear). Pour through nylon straining bag onto sugar in primary. Let bag drip drain (do not squeeze) while stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest and juice of lemons and yeast nutrient. Cover primary with cloth and allow to cool to room temperature. Add pectic enzyme, recover primary and set aside. After 12 hours, add yeast, recover and set aside in warm place for 48 hours. Strain into secondary and fit airlock. Do not rack until wine clears, then refit airlock and rack every 60 days until S.G. registers dryness (S.G. 0.990). Stabilize, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. [Adapted from C.J.J. Berry's First Steps in Winemaking]
My thanks to Tom and Jill Fleming for another request
