Greg,
I did not use the recipe on my web site (the one from Leo Zanelli's book) as the sugar was just too high for table or social wine. I used
1.5 pounds of sugar and the alcohol was still high (about 15%), so I certainly believe the poster who claimed he had 8% natural sugar in his pumpkin.
I did not use spices, as that was not what I wanted to taste. I was after the taste of pumpkin wine.
As in the recipe, I grated the pumpkin. I used an electric rotary grater. Doing it by hand would have been a very tiresome chore, as the flesh was very hard. However, I soon saw the advantages of grated pumpkin over slices or chunks, as it fermented to dryness in only 8 days and the yeast really were able to get everything out of the pumpkin. The discarded pulp looked like it had been bleached and tenderized.
Mine has been in the bottle for 10 months and is not ready to drink. Everyone I have talked to has said 1-3 years are required, but the finished wine is so mellow you just want to gilp it. I suspect the person who said two years aging in the bottle is probably right, but individual batches will vary, of course, due to the pumpkins used (varieties, ripeness, terrior) and techniques employed. Mine is considerably softer than it was when bottled, but not yet mellow. And, since I know it will indeed mellow out, I know it will be worth the wait. It has already developed a good nose during the 10 months.
By the way, I used two small pumpkins. I have no idea what kind they were but my wife said they are the sweeter ones.
Good luck and don't be impatient.
Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
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