Something I stumbled upon a couple of years ago when I had an absolute glut of blackberries to process. After crumbles, pies, liqueurs and fruit leather, I was out of ideas.
Then a desperate Google search pulled up a recipe for a ‘fortified wine’. We had a bottle of Cretian wine from our honeymoon that we were never going to drink and a couple of miniature bottles of gin. Say no more- experiment on.
Makes: about 1 litre
Prep: About a day to prepare, 3-6 months to age
Lasts: Until you open it. About a week once opened, if you keep the lid on
Ingredients
- 500g blackberries
- 250g sugar
- 1 bottle of red wine
- 2 shots of vodka or gin
Equipment
- A decent sized saucepan
- A wooden spoon
- A sterilised bottle
Method
- Combine the blackberries and sugar in the saucepan.
- Smush them up with your wooden spoon to get the juices going.
- Cover it and leave it over night.
- Add the red wine, heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Sieve the mix and discard the fruit pulp.
- Return the liquid to the pan.
- Chuck in the shots.
- Cool and pour into a sterilised bottle.
- Squirrel it away somewhere dark for as long as you can- ideally a minimum of six months (I just cracked open a delightful 2024 vintage).
Makes a lovely, jammy fortified dessert wine-esque drink that is good for sipping.
