This is for hubby, a sugar enthusiast. His taste in wine at the moment is Cabernet Sauvignon. He normally chooses red wine but has been known to drink white on occasion. My taste goes toward the fruity, a sweet but not too sweet, but seldom a dry wine. Not that I drink that often. ;-) LOL neither one of us is a member of any coveted ‘Wine Club’ and wearing a cup around our neck!
Here’s my process. Feel free to adapt it as you see fit:
Step 1: Dice/chop/squish/shred your fruit, and simmer gently until cooked. Pour the mix (chunks and all) into a primary fermenter. When it’s cool enough, add yeast. Cover and let ferment until the bubbling slows down.
Step 2: Strain the liquid. Taste, and add sugar, concentrated fruit juice, or other sweeteners as desired. Pour into a carboy and let ferment until the bubbling slows down.
Step 3: Taste the wine. If you want it sweeter, repeat step 2 as many times as you like until it’s either sweet enough, or is so strong it can no longer support the yeast. Otherwise siphon out the liquid, trying not to disturb the sediment. It may ferment again, so put it in a clean carboy with airlock until you’re sure the yeast has stopped, then bottle.
My dad likes using special wine yeasts and then using additives to stop the fermentation. He has yet to come up with something actually drinkable, all you can taste are the additives. I use bread yeast, and keep sweetening it until it can’t ferment any more. Mine come out both very sweet and very strong. The advantage to my method is, you can stop once it reaches the sweetness you want.
Enjoy!