Gooseberry Wine

Ingredients

• gooseberries
• water
• 3 pounds lump sugar
• vichy

Instructions

1. Wash and drain dead-ripe gooseberries, then mash them thoroughly with a wooden pestle. Add boiling water equal in bulk to the mashed berries.
2. Let the mixture stand for thirty-six hours, or twenty-four hours if the weather is very warm.
3. Press out all the juice, even if it runs muddy. Measure the juice and add three pounds of the best lump sugar per gallon.
4. Stir well, repeating every day for a week. Cover with lawn and let stand until fermentation ceases.
5. Cover tightly and leave standing for six weeks longer so the wine may fatten on the lees.
6. Back off carefully, filtering the muddy part at the bottom through several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Put in a clean vessel for two months longer.
7. Bottle and seal. If the bottles are laid on their side and the wine carefully decanted, it will show a bright golden yellow with the translucence of topaz. The wine reaches perfection at one year. If serving, the rather heavy wine is improved to many palates by adding ice-cold vichy after it is poured into the glasses.