Ratafias

Home-made liqueurs, such as ratafias, are always popular. Making them is good therapy whenever I start thinking I should be a winemaker. These beverages are usually made from the must of wine grapes. The must is the freshly pressed, unfermented juice of the grape. In the case of red wine, it has some colour extracted from the skins. Australian musts are very sweet compared to European musts and therefore make great ratafias. Ratafias are simpler to make than wines and so we can indulge our winemaker fantasies without having the technical skills to make great fermented wine. Because the must still has solids in it, and we don’t wish to filter the wine, it is necessary to ‘rack’ the wine. This means allowing the solids to settle to the bottom of a container and then removing the wine to another container, leaving the solids behind. This can be achieved by siphoning or decanting. The must has spirit alcohol added to it, to raise the degree of alcohol to the level where it will no longer ferment. Winemakers have access to very high proof spirits that are not available to the general public. I am afraid we have to make do with Cognac (brandy) and good vodka. You will have no need of recipes if you remember to keep the alcohol level to above 17% volume; 1 part Cognac to 2 parts must.