Cassy’s Cookbook: Shire’s Old Winyards

This recipe is very special to me, since it comes from my husband’s grand-mother, who served as a cook in the navy during World War II. I recently was given her precious cookbook, and look forward to honour her memory by cooking my way through her recipes. And I’ll be sharing some of her delicious secrets with you as well! I haven’t taste this wine yet, since it takes about 8 month for the beverage to be ready. But I promise to actually take a sip, no matter how it will look in next winter…

Shire’s Old Winyards
Also called Blue Grape Wine

Ingredients:

-8 cups of Concord (blue) grapes
-4 cups of water
-1 ½ pound of sugar

Instructions:

Separate the grapes from the stalk and wash them well. Crush the grapes with your hands, and place them in a large, clean jar or container. Add water and sugar, mix well and make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Close the jar or cover container. Store in a dark and dry place for 15 days.

After 15 days, filter the beverage. I already started to smell like wine! Use what ever you have at home: I use a strainer to filter the juice from the grapes, then I poured it through clean kitchen linen to make sure I took all the pulp away.

Bottle up and seal. I used my jam containers to make sure the beverage was well sealed!
Store in a dark and dry place for 8 months. Mine are in the linen closet, hehe.

At Yule, invite friends and family for dinner, open a bottle and enjoy!

Tips:
-Plastic containers can do the job for the first 15 days of fermentation, just make sure to cover them completly. Plastic wrap can to totally do the job. Good luck!

A note on Old Winyards: The Old Winyards is type of wine from Southfarthing. In the novels, Bilbo gives Old Rory Bradybuck a douzen bottles of Old Winyards as a parting girft. Later, just before Froddo leaves Bag End, he, Merry and Pippin drink the very last of the Old Winyards in a farewell feast. Source: lotro.wikia.com