Recipe: Tanglefoot - Parsnip

It's about time that I posted a recipe and method for this wine as it is fast becoming a favourite. On top of that I think I have got it pretty much where I want it so I won't be tweaking it much from now on. This started off being a C.J.J.Berry recipe, but I tweaked it.

This is quite a laborious wine to make, so leave yourself plenty of time to hog the kitchen.

Ingredients for 3 gallons

3.7 Kg Parsnips
3 Kg (approx) Sugar (OG 1080 -1090)
2 Lemons, juice and zest
1.5 Oz Root Ginger
3 Teaspoons Citric Acid
1 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets
Yeast Nutrient
Sauternes Yeast
Water to 3 Gallons

Method

Wash and thoroughly scrub the parsnips but don't peel them. Top and tail them then slice 1 inch thick. Bring 1.5 gallons of water to the boil then add parsnip slices and simmer until they are tender but not mushy. This took 20-30 mins but check them frequently, they are done just before they start to split in the middle. You should have a clear liquid with intact parsnip slices so pour the juice through a colander into your fermenting bin. You now have lots of un-needed cooked parsnips that you can mash or roast. Boil up 2.5 Kg of sugar in plenty of water and add that the fermenting bin too.

Bruise and coarsely chop the ginger, zest the lemons (no pith), put in a muslin bag and tie it up. Add to the fermenting bin and allow to cool (covered) for a few hours then add citric acid, tartaric acid and enzyme and crushed campden tablets. Leave overnight then add yeast, nutrient and top up to 3 gallons with sugar solution to get your desired gravity. Stir daily for 7-10 days, remove the zest and ginger, then transfer to DJ's and thereafter rack, top-up, degas, stabilise etc when appropriate.

This should clear with no problems in a couple of months or less, but if not then chitin based finings work well. Gelatin finings don't seem to do it. I've never needed to use a starch enzyme, but if you want to then I'm sure it won't do any harm ... I don't know whether pectolase is needed but I keep using it anyway!

Some Thoughts

My last batch of this had an OG of 1086, and ended up being about 12.5% ABV. It's dry, a little zesty and gingery, the parsnip seems to lend a very slight earthy, grassy and maybe even radish notes! Make it well and this will be ready to drink after only 4-5 months, but will seriously improve if you give it 8-12.

Many wine-makers are quite seriously scornful of parsnip wine, and wine made from other root vegetables. But if you are interested in keeping old traditions going, even with a modern twist, then pay no attention. Go for it. Their suggestions to leave out the parsnips and use grape juice/concentrate instead may make a wine they prefer, but they are not you, and they don't know why you make it. I make it cos I like this tradition, and because it makes a cracking wine if done well. It's also a great seasonal (winter) wine. You will be able to knock people down with a feather when you tell them what it's made from - even the ponces who are scornful!

Update (just 6.5 years after making it)

it must be some sort of special occasion. We just pulled the cork on the last bottle of 2009's tanglefoot (parsnip wine). It's delicious, like a dry but subtle sherry in it's feel, and the taste just a little grassy. It's mellowed perfectly from when it was young and a little fiery.

Making this wine is not only laborious, it also needs plenty of care and attention to detail. Then it needs time to condition. A year is enough. But it's great to find out that it's not on the way out after almost 6.5 years in the bottle. There will be no glugging tonight!