Bottling Returns Part 2
Chenin blanc bottling returns + slices of blood orange and grapefruit + time in the fridge + vodka = Homemade Lillet
It’s impossible to transfer every last drop of wine from tank to the bottle. To find out what I do with my red wine bottling returns click here. For my white wine bottling returns, read on.
We bottle my chenin blanc in the springtime (read: citrus season) so I save these couple leftover gallons to infuse with miscellaneous citrus to make a vin d’orange Lillet-like aperitif.
Homemade Lillet
First you will need:
food grade containers that you can fill to the absolute brim that have an opening big enough to shove citrus pieces through narrow enough that the lid is air-tight. The containers will need to be small enough to fit inside the refrigerator. I use empty 1 gallon water plastic jugs. You could use a giant mason jar, etc.
miscellaneous citrus, sliced whole including the peel and pith and seeds (I like kumquat, white and pink grapefruit, meyer lemon, tangerine, orange, blood orange is always fun….)
non-oaky white wine, I use the wine left behind in the tank after my chenin bottling but you could use any neutral white or rosé wine. You will need enough volume of wine on top of the citrus pieces so that your container completely full.
Later on you’ll need:
white sugar
vodka
cute bottles
I infuse the wine with the citrus for as long as I can stand those gallon jugs taking up all that real estate in my fridge - ideally a couple weeks to a month. Typically it is ready to drink exactly as Seattle gets some sunny days in the spring. April = Lillet weather.
After tasting to confirm it has sufficiently infused, I strain out the citrus pieces from the clear wine, garbage the citrus and then pour the hazy infusion with tiny floaties into old wine or spirits bottles. You want a container that you can pour carefully from later and that you can fill to the absolute brim. Let the hazy wine settle and clarify in the fridge.
After another night or two of settling, I pour off carefully for the clearest wine possible, and then at that point I add vodka and sugar to taste. Real Lillet is 17% alcohol and about 6% sugar. My preference is more like 15% alcohol and no added sugar (all the oranges bring some sweetness with them). Some of the recipes I’ve linked to below suggest adding sugar and vodka together with the citrus but I don’t want the added volume of the vodka in the fridge and I like to control how sweet it is at the end. The recipes below suggest adding spice as well, I find the spice character to be super dominant so I just stick with pure citrus. The whole production is stored in the fridge to minimize the risk of spontaneous fermentation.
Then with a funnel I fill the cute clear glass flint bottles I have (most are 375mL) and store those in the fridge / give them out to my friends and tell them to enjoy it chilled and on the rocks with a slice of tangerine. Cheers!
Additional information/inspiration
Vin d’Orange recipe from nytimes