To Make Corrant Wine

This recipe is drawn from the English manuscript tradition, penned somewhere between 1625 and 1725, a period when home winemaking was popular among the gentry and well-to-do households. 'Corrance' refers to currants, a tart berry native to Europe and often used for preserves and cordials. At a time when imported wines were expensive, such recipes allowed families to create their own festive beverages from garden produce. The manuscript belongs to the collection of John King, situating the recipe in a world where culinary and medicinal arts were closely intertwined. Handwritten manuscript recipes from this era are prized windows into daily life, revealing how households preserved harvest abundance and enjoyed the delights of fermented drinks long before modern oenology.

Back then, currants would be mashed by hand or with a wooden pestle, and the fermenting liquid mixed with a clean stick or wooden spoon. Large earthenware crocks or stoneware pots served as fermentation vessels. Simple coverings like parchment or cloth protected the fermenting wine, while strings or cords kept things secure. Wine was later drawn off through a tab (a spout or tap at the bottom of some pots), and strained with linen cloths or sieves, then transferred into glass bottles and sealed with cork or parchment.