# Almond Wine



## DesertDance

In my search for a recipe for the "illusive" secret recipe for Pecan Wine, I found this on the web last night. I have one of those big bags of Pecans in the freezer from Costco left from Christmas cookies, so I think I'll substitute pecans for almonds, oranges for lemons, and brown sugar for granulated. Still, the Almond wine sounds great because I love amaretto!

And after further research, I will roast my almonds/pecans. Roasting aka Toasting kicks the flavor up a lot! Maybe no need for oak!

On the subject of the oils left by nuts, I found a couple solutions. 1) oil floats, so siphon deeply, and toss the oily top. 2) Instead of tossing the remaining wine with oil floating, freeze it. The oil will harden and easily come off, and then you have pure nut oil for cooking! How good is that?

*
Almond Wine*
Makes 1 Gallon
Like a mild amaretto. 
Ingredients

•	1 cup whole almonds 
•	2 lemons, juice and rind 
•	1 1/2 pounds light raisins 
•	5 cups granulated sugar 
•	1 teaspoon yeast nutrient 
•	1 campden tablet 
•	1 teaspoon pectic enzyme 
•	1 package wine yeast 
•	water 

Chop almonds and raisins finely in a food processor. DO NOT over process almonds or you will end up with almond butter. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Simmer for 1 hour, adding water periodically to prevent scorching. Strain out solids and place liquid in primary fermentor. 

Add water to make up to 1 gallon and all other ingredients except the yeast. Let sit overnight. Check specific gravity -- it should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Add yeast. Stir daily for five or six days, until frothing stops. This may be slow to start fermenting. 

Strain. Siphon into secondary fermentor and attach airlock. 

For a dry wine, rack in three weeks, and every three months for one year. Bottle. 

For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. 

Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.


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## arcticsid

Thanks for sharing that, I too am quite intrigued by the "illusive" recipe.

Have you tried to make your own Amaretto? There are tons of recipes out there for it. I have made my own Baileys Irish Cream many times. It's cheap, tastes great, and is fun to make.

Be sure to let us know when and how this almond wine progresses.

Troy


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## DesertDance

arcticsid said:


> Thanks for sharing that, I too am quite intrigued by the "illusive" recipe.
> 
> Have you tried to make your own Amaretto? There are tons of recipes out there for it. I have made my own Baileys Irish Cream many times. It's cheap, tastes great, and is fun to make.
> 
> Be sure to let us know when and how this almond wine progresses.
> 
> Troy



Troy, I have never made my own amaretto, but I have made brandy. I am not starting with the almond wine. I'm going for gold! Pecan! Almond will be next!

I just found this on a pecan mead recipe thread: "If you pre-soak the nuts, the oils will rise to the surface and you can skim them off or siphon the liquid from below it". 

So, maybe I'll roast the pecans, and pre-soak them. Also I found some hints that maple syrup might add a nice touch...... I live in the Coachella Valley, CA, and there is a huge table grape/raisin industry here. I have unsulphered, unwashed raisins from the growers, so I'll wash those and use them.

Let the fun begin!


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## arcticsid

Oo-rah!

I have to wonder, if you are already nuts, do you need to use as many?

LOL


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## Wade E

The Pecan and Almond sound scrumptious!


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## DesertDance

arcticsid said:


> Oo-rah!
> 
> I have to wonder, if you are already nuts, do you need to use as many?
> 
> LOL



Yes. Even more! The crazy nuts diminish the effect of the real ones! Sorry!

Here is what I just found! This is the beginning of a HUGE secret! Shhhhhh

"Pecans were toasted at 300F for 10 minutes in a single layer, then poured into a paper bag to sit out overnight, hopefully getting some of the oils out of them. Pecans were roasted 10 minutes at 400F till slightly smoking. Poured into another paper bag.
Pecans were finally roasted for 10 more minutes at 350F for about 8 minutes, again, just until slightly smoking.
Between each roast, I used a flat-style crowbar and smashed as many whole nuts as I could in order to expose the maximum amount of surface area".


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## rocket man

DesertDance said:


> Between each roast, I used a flat-style crowbar and smashed as many whole nuts as I could in order to expose the maximum amount of surface area".



Hmmm, I guess I'll have to add a crowbar to my list of wine making tools.


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## DesertDance

*How to crush Pecans or Almonds or any NUT~*



rocket man said:


> Hmmm, I guess I'll have to add a crowbar to my list of wine making tools.



I found that the flat side of a meat mallet works just fine! I should start a thread for Pecan wine because I did modify the Almond for the Pecan. Probably for the only reason that someone here has a "secret" recipe for his pecan wine, and I don't believe in secrets!

If my pecan wine turns out, I'll be happy to start a pecan wine thread here, but until that day, you can view my progress and recipe on my little blog here: http://speakeasycellars.blogspot.com/2010/01/triple-toasted-pecan-wine.html

I would love to hear your ALMOND wine results and modifications on this thread! Are we having fun? Absolutely!!

 Suzi


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## DesertDance

I have tasted both versions of my pecan wine. They have a lot of body. You could almost chew them. They are high alcohol. They are reminiscent of Jim Beam... Gentleman Jim. I toasted my pecans, so no need for oak in this wine. It's pretty toasty, and very dry at this point. As rackings go on, I may sweeten. The adventure has just begun.


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## Wade E

They really do sound just delish! Great job on this!


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## Giovannino

Perhaps a stupid question but at least not OT.

Is there such a thing as a kit for Amaretto?
Thanks


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## Sammyk

I was doing a search for almond wine and found this page that led me back here. LOL. Any updates because I would love to make a gallon of this. I did go to the above mentioned post but the blog has since been closed. What yeast would your recommend? My HTBS sells Lalvin...

And I am assuming these are raw almonds?

Any one else try to make this wine?


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## DesertDance

I've only made toasted pecan. I do know if you soak almonds and lemon leaves, or orange leaves in 100 proof alcohol, then add some red or white wine, you'll get a lovely essence of almond drink. I do that with green pecans. Oh MY!

Why not toast the almonds? 

My fruit and nut wine making days are over. The vineyard is now mature, so the real wine-making begins!


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## SLOweather

This thread reminds me of when I went looking for an acorn wine recipe.

I never did try it...


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## juventude

Had anyone tried almond wine, mine came realy bitter nothing like amaretto ... Is this normal or i did something wrong....


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## ChefPug

*Lemon rinds???*

I looked at the recipe and from a culinary view point and expertise. I have to ask. When you added the rinds, did you carefully scrap off only the bright yellow part? Or did you also put the white pith under the lemon skin in the wine too? 
The white pith is very bitter and will ruin almost any cooking your do with it. And if you just squeezed the lemons and dropped the whole lemon in your primary...  well there is no saving that batch unless you want to add some grains and make an almond beer.
When any recipe asks for rinds, always just get the topmost colored layer, that is the part that hold the aromatic oils that make lemons smell like lemons, oranges like oranges, ect.


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## Pat

I made it a long time ago not bitter but Most Almond wine is actually Cayua grape with Almond extract for flavor only


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## sandea1

It sounds really good...Thanks for sharing.


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## hollie5

It's quite a new recipe for me. I would definitely try this.


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## BernardSmith

I think the secret of nut wines is that you boil the nuts to extract their flavor and then freeze the tea. The oils from the nuts will tend to float to the top and so when you allow the tea to gently thaw you can skim off the oils. You use the tea to dissolve the sugar (wine) or honey (mead) or any other source of sugar (agave?)


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## Brigitte

Was wondering if anyone had anymore nut wine wisdom. Did anyone make pecan or almond wine that was good?


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## Brigitte

BernardSmith said:


> I think the secret of nut wines is that you boil the nuts to extract their flavor and then freeze the tea. The oils from the nuts will tend to float to the top and so when you allow the tea to gently thaw you can skim off the oils. You use the tea to dissolve the sugar (wine) or honey (mead) or any other source of sugar (agave?)



That makes sense. I know the oil will be the big issue. I have heard to roast the nuts in the oven. Take them out ... brown paper bag to absorb oil .. repeat whole process 2 more times. Whew.. I’m tired already 

Thanks for responding ! I may try the boiling method.


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## Addsae36

Brigitte said:


> That makes sense. I know the oil will be the big issue. I have heard to roast the nuts in the oven. Take them out ... brown paper bag to absorb oil .. repeat whole process 2 more times. Whew.. I’m tired already
> 
> Thanks for responding ! I may try the boiling method.


In my recent research into fining agents I do recall reading that chitosan is a binder that grabs oils. Is the oil an issue or inhibitor to fermentation? If not I wonder is a bag of dual fine could do the trick. My last use of it in my white left a goopy layer at the bottom, what was it? Don’t know but it was gooey.


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## BigDaveK

Addsae36 said:


> In my recent research into fining agents I do recall reading that chitosan is a binder that grabs oils. Is the oil an issue or inhibitor to fermentation? If not I wonder is a bag of dual fine could do the trick. My last use of it in my white left a goopy layer at the bottom, what was it? Don’t know but it was gooey.


I believe the issue is the oil turning rancid.


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## Addsae36

BigDaveK said:


> I believe the issue is the oil turning rancid.


Ah, that makes sense.


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## Raptor99

I think that oil requires oxygen to turn rancid. So if there is oil floating on the top, it could turn rancid. But if some of the oil is dissolved in the alcohol I don't think it will turn rancid.


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