Red wine in buried jar

The Christmas festivities are incomplete without toasting some homemade wine and enjoying delicious cakes. It is assumed that the unique flavours of wine were first tested in the European country Georgia. The grape wine was stored in huge mud jars which were then sealed and buried under the soil for years.

Wines prepared using this technique have better taste, quality and intensity that the ordinary wines lack. In Kerala, too, the tradition of making homemade wine is quite popular. Make this Christmas extra special with this centuries old recipe of buried grape wine.

Ingredients
3 kg black grapes
2 kg sugar
2 tsp yeast
4 tbsp lukewarm water

Preparation
Wash the grapes well in boiled and cooled water
Pat dry these grapes. Make sure that there is no water on the grapes when used for the wine
In a small bowl, mix yeast, little sugar, and lukewarm water
In a dry earthen jar, add the grapes and then sugar
Mix well using a wooden spoon or spatula
Now add the fermented yeast 
Mix well
Close the lid of the jar and then seal the mouth using a piece of clean cloth
Secure the mouth of the sealed jar again, by wrapping it using a plastic cover or sheet
Make a pit in earth and insert the earthen jar in it
Bury the jar completely by dropping soil over it
Take out the buried earthen jar after 21 days
Keeping the jar in the pit for more number of days would only increase the quality and taste of the wine
Give the wine in the jar a good mix using a wooden spoon
Pass the wine through a sieve
Store the wine in glass bottles
You can consume this red wine after 7 days.