"Would you or anyone have ever tried making wine with lychees?
My partner and I have a 300-lychee tree orchard...and we would like
to make wine from our fruit...." Micheline de Bellefeuille, Queensland, Australia
Lychee, the Anglicized word for the Chinese litchi (or lichee), is the Litchi chinensis, a tree that bears an edible fruit. Known in some parts as the litchi or lychee nut, the fruit is not a nut at all, but consists of a tough skin, a juicy pulp, and a hard central seed.
This is the third request I have received in two years for a lychee wine recipe. On the previous occasions I could not find one, and at first I was unable to find one for this request too. I then began a correspondence with the requester in an effort to guide her in developing a recipe because I did not have access to the fresh fruit to develop one myself. Then, by chance, I found the following recipe by Leo Zanelli, who claims lychee makes a delicious white wine, dry or sweet.
Put the water on to boil. Meanwhile, peel, destone and chop the lychee. Place the chopped fruit and the sugar in the primary, pour boiling water over them and stir to dissolve. Allow to cool. Add all other ingredients, including the activated yeast. Cover primary with cloth. When fermentation is vigorous, stir daily for 5 days. Strain liquid through nylon sieve into secondary and fit airlock. Discard pulp. Rack every 30 days until the wine clears, then every 30 days until the wine goes 30 days without dropping ANY sediment. Stabilize and sweeten to taste. Wait 10 days and rack into bottles. This wine will store well. [Recipe adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]
My thanks to Micheline de Bellefeuille of Queensland, Australia for requesting this recipe.
