Pear wine is a beautifully delicate fruit wine with a soft floral aroma and a smooth, slightly sweet finish that captures the essence of ripe pears at their peak. The natural sugars in pears ferment into a clean, mellow alcohol with subtle honeyed notes and a crisp acidity that keeps it refreshing. Unlike grape wine, pear wine has a lighter body that pairs wonderfully with soft cheeses, roasted chicken, light pasta dishes, and fresh fruit desserts. Serve chilled at around 50°F in a white wine glass to let the bouquet open up. It also makes a lovely base for sangria or sparkling wine cocktails.

Yield: approximately 1 gallon Fermentation time: 4 to 6 weeks Aging time: 2 to 6 months minimum

Ingredients

• 4 lbs ripe pears, peeled, cored, and chopped (Bartlett or Bosc work best)
• 2 lbs granulated white sugar
• 1 gallon filtered or distilled water
• 1 tsp acid blend
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulfite (Campden tablet, crushed)
• 1 packet wine yeast (Lalvin EC-1118 or Red Star Côte des Blancs)
• 1 tsp wine tannin (optional, adds structure)

Equipment

• 1-gallon glass carboy or fermentation jug
• Airlock and stopper
• Large stockpot or primary fermentation bucket (food-grade)
• Fine mesh straining bag or cheesecloth
• Hydrometer (optional but recommended)
• Funnel, siphon tubing, and wine bottles with corks or caps

Directions

1. Wash and sanitize all equipment thoroughly with a no-rinse sanitizer such as Star San.
2. Peel, core, and chop the pears into small chunks. Place them into a sanitized fermentation bucket inside a mesh straining bag.
3. Dissolve the sugar in about 4 cups of warm water, then add it to the bucket along with the remaining water to reach 1 gallon total.
4. Stir in the acid blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, and wine tannin if using.
5. Crush one Campden tablet and stir it into the must. Cover loosely and let it sit for 24 hours. This kills wild yeast and bacteria.
6. After 24 hours, check the specific gravity with a hydrometer if you have one. A starting gravity of 1.085 to 1.095 is ideal for a medium-bodied wine around 11 to 13% ABV.
7. Sprinkle the wine yeast over the surface of the must. Do not stir. Cover loosely and let it activate for 24 hours.
8. Once fermentation begins (you will see bubbling and foam), stir the must daily and squeeze the fruit bag gently to extract juice. Do this for 5 to 7 days.
9. After 5 to 7 days, remove and discard the fruit bag. Siphon the liquid into your sanitized glass carboy, leaving sediment behind.
10. Fit the carboy with an airlock filled with water or vodka. Store in a cool, dark location at 65 to 75°F.
11. After 2 to 3 weeks, rack the wine by siphoning it into a clean sanitized carboy, leaving the sediment (lees) behind. This clarifies the wine and prevents off-flavors.
12. Rack again after another 3 to 4 weeks if sediment has accumulated.
13. Once the wine is clear and fermentation has completely stopped (airlock shows no activity for at least 2 weeks), it is ready to bottle.
14. Optionally, add another crushed Campden tablet before bottling to stabilize the wine.
15. Siphon into sanitized wine bottles and cork or cap them.
16. Age for at least 2 months before drinking. Six months or more will significantly improve the flavor.

Tips and variations

• The 4 lbs should be measured before peeling, coring, and chopping, which is the more common convention in fruit wine recipes since that is how you would purchase or pick them. After peeling, coring, and chopping you will lose roughly 20 to 30% of the weight depending on the variety, so your actual fruit yield going into the fermentation bucket will be closer to 2.75 to 3.2 lbs of usable fruit.
• If you want a more fruit-forward wine with a stronger pear flavor, you can start with 5 lbs whole fruit to compensate for that loss, which is actually what many home winemakers prefer with pears since they are a milder fruit to begin with.
• Use very ripe pears for the most flavor. Overripe pears that are too soft to eat fresh are ideal for wine.
• Bartlett pears produce a more aromatic wine. Bosc pears give a slightly earthier, more complex profile.
• For a sweeter dessert-style wine, add 1/4 cup of sugar dissolved in warm water per gallon before bottling and stabilize with potassium sorbate to prevent re-fermentation.
• Adding a vanilla bean to the secondary fermentation carboy for one week gives the wine a lovely warm, spiced note.
• A cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves added during primary fermentation creates a spiced pear wine perfect for fall.
• Pectic enzyme is essential for clearing pear wine since pears are high in pectin. Do not skip it.
• If you do not have a hydrometer, the recipe as written should produce a dry to off-dry wine in the 11 to 12% ABV range.
• A 1-gallon recipe produces approximately 5 standard 750ml bottles of wine. n practice though, you will likely end up with closer to 4 to 4.5 bottles, due to liquid lost each time you rack and leave sediment behind, small amount lost to evaporation during fermentation, headspace management in the carboy, and any tasting or testing along the way.
• Store finished bottles on their sides in a cool, dark cellar or refrigerator.
• Metric equivalents

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