Strawberry Wine

Based on an Old World method, making this bright dessert wine takes little more than mixing ingredients together. (Jennifer McGruther)

Sweet and berry-forward, this easy strawberry wine recipe tastes delicate and bright. You'll love its vivid red color and delicate sweetness. It’s lovely served as a dessert wine on a summer evening.

Most modern recipes call for mashing the berries and fermenting the mash with yeast, as you might do to make wine, but older versions call for infusing the white wine with fresh fruit and fortifying it with a sweetener, such as honey or sugar, and hard liquor. It’s much easier to make, and yields a delicious, fruit-forward dessert wine.

Makes about 1 quart

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 (750 ml) bottle white wine, such as riesling
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup sugar

Fill a 2-quart jar with strawberries, and then cover with white wine and vodka. Cover the jar with a loose-fitting lid, and then allow the fruit to infuse the wine for 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks, strain the wine through a fine-mesh sieve or a cheesecloth and into a clean jar. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Transfer the wine to a bottle with a tight-fitting lid, and then store in a dark cupboard for up to 1 year.

This recipe originally appeared on Nourished Kitchen and is reprinted by permission of the author.