The only difference between a "port style" wine and a normal country wine is that you need twice as much fruit per gallon and they 'feel thicker and have more depth of flavour'.
These recipes should be treated as a guide - if you're foraging, freezing or buying fruit in fresh, the mix you choose and the colours and flavours you have are an experiment and yours to create with!

Black Cherry & Blueberry Port-Style Wine

2 Gallon recipe

  • 3 Lbs of frozen Blueberries from Tesco
  • 1.5 Lbs of Blackberries from around Lovington to boost the fruit content
  • 1 Can of Youngs Black Cherry Juice
  • 1 litre Carton of Red Grape Juice from Lidl
  • 6 pints of boiling water
  • 1 litre Carton of Vitafit Red Grape Juice from Lidl
  • 1 teaspoon of pectolase
  • 5 Lbs of sugar dissolved in water
  • 1 lemon juice or 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • 2 teaspoon of yeast energizer
  • Added Ritchies Port Yeast
  • Campden tablets or Sodium Metabisulphate

Blackcurrant and Blackberry Port-Style Wine

1 Gallon recipe

  • 4 lb Sloes (Blackthorn) (Fresh or Frozen)
  • 3" piece of ginger root (Fresh)
  • 6 pints of water
  • 1 campden tablet
- 1 tsp pectolase
  • 2-3  Lbs of sugar
  • 1/2 litre of Red grape juice or a pound of Raisins
  • 1 lemon for juice or 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 2 tsp yeast nutrient (TronOzymol)
  • Ritchies Sherry yeast

Blackcurrant and Blackberry Port-Style Wine

  • 2 Lbs of Blackcurrants frozen in July or August
  • 2 Lbs of Blackberries fresh from the hedgerow in September
  • 1 Lb of another fruit

    (I chose Plums & Raisins (You could easily use a Litre of Aldi red grape juice instead) and later I added Sloe wine which you could do by waiting a little longer to pick the Sloes by freezing the Blackberries until they mature)

  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp citric acid or juice of 1 lemon
  • 2.5 Lbs of sugar in 3 x 14 Oz batches
  • 1 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Port Wine Yeast

Blueberry Wine

1 Gallon recipe

  • 3 Lbs of frozen Blueberries
  • 5 pints of boiling water
  • 1.5 pints of Rio Doro Red grape juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pectolase
  • 3 Lbs of sugar dissolved in water
  • 1/2 a lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp Citric Acid
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • 1/2 teaspoon of yeast energizer
  • Added Ritchies Port Yeast
  • Campden tablets

I recommend lightly breaking the blueberry skinswith a potato masher if they are fresh and if frozen, the cell walls will already be broken by the process of thawing.

Crab Apple Port-Style Wine w Strawberries & Elderflowers

1 Gallon recipe

  • 2 Lbs of Yellow Crab Apples
  • 1.5 Lbs of Red Crab Apples
  • 1/2 Lb of Sloes (Optional replacement for the strawberry juice)
  • 300 grams of Young's Strawberry Juice (1/3rd of a Can) or 1 1/2 Lbs of sliced fresh strawberries)
  • Handful of fresh Elderflower Heads
  • Cup of strong tea.
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 2-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 2 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Port Yeast

I recommend freezing and thawing the fruits, then covering them in boiling water. It makes crushing the crab apples with your fingers easy.

Damson & Red Cherry Port Style Wine

2 Gallon recipe

  • 5 1/4 Lbs of frozen Damsons in the fermentation bucket.
  • 9 pints of boiling water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 litre Carton of Cherry Juice from Tesco
  • 1 teaspoon of pectolase
  • 5 Lbs of sugar dissolved in water
  • 1 lemon juice or 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • 2 teaspoon of yeast energizer
  • Ritchies Port Yeast
  • Campden tablets or Sodium Metabisulphate

To make one gallon, use 4 Lbs of Damsons and use 1 carton of Cherry juice along with a litre of red grape juice.

Damson & Crab Apple Port Style Wine

This damson wine recipe started from a stand of damson trees near Evercreech, Somerset and some roadside crab apples near Glastonbury, Somerset. A nice seasonal mix.

1 Gallon recipe

  • 2 Lbs of Damsons
  • 3 Lbs of mixed Crab Apples
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 2-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 2 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • Ritchies Port Yeast

I recommend freezing and thawing both fruits, then covering them in boiling water. It makes removing the damson stones and crushing the crab apples much easier. I'd also try reversing the fruit ratio, so 3 Lbs of damsons and only 2 Lbs of crab apples and if you don't have 5 Lbs of fruit to spare, then use a combination of 3.5 Lbs of damson & crab apples and use a red wine yeast. It's a 3 in 1 wine recipe!

Damson & Strawberry Port Style Wine

This is a simple damson wine recipe. I recommend freezing and thawing the fruits, then pour your boiling water over them in your primary bucket. Removing the stones is mandatory and already takes a long time so having the flesh soft makes a difficult job easier and more tolerable.

1 Gallon recipe

  • 4 Lbs of Damsons
  • 300 grams of Young's Strawberry Juice (1/3rd of a Can) or 1 1/2 Lbs of sliced fresh strawberries)
  • Cup of strong tea
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 2-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 2 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Port Yeast

Damson, Sloe and Elderberry Port Style Wine

The title sounds complicated, but the flavour is exceptional ... so here is my port style damson sloe and elderberry wine recipe

1 Gallon recipe

  • You need 5 Lb's of mixed fruits (In this case it was Damson, Sloe and Elderberry)
  • 7 pints of boiling water
  • 1/2 litre of preservative free grape juice, 8 Oz of Raisins or 1/2 pint of strong tea
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp citric acid or 1 lemon's juice
  • 2.5-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 2 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Port Wine yeast

To make one gallon, use 4 Lbs of Damsons and use 1 carton of Cherry juice along with a litre of red grape juice.

Elderberry and Blackberry Port Style Wine

This elderberry and blackberry wine recipe is the same as any port style wine recipe, you need 5 Lbs of fruit in any combination and a port wine yeast, some patience a hydrometer and paper for notes of SG drops so you know when to stop adding sugar!

1 Gallon recipe

  • 2.5 Lbs of Elderberries
  • 2.5 Lbs of Blackberries
  • 7 pints of boiling water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp citric acid or 1 lemon's juice
  • 2-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 1 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Pot Wine Yeast

Whatever elderberry wine recipe you choose, don't add any tannin. If you have elderberries in a recipe, you don't need to add grape juice, raisins or tea ... Also, you can use a few more and get a real heavy body to the wine. One other thing, while I totally love elderflower, I really dislike a strong elderberry flavour, but this wine when it's mature is wonderful.

Mixed Berry Port Style Wine

This was the New Year freezer clear out. Blackcurrants from my own bushes, haw berries from my own Hawthorn trees and the last of our neighbour's cherries .. along with the last Chosen Hill Farm Tayberries and Boysenberries … I was making a Blueberry Melomel at the same time so I reused the Blueberry skins, plenty of colour and flavour left in those even with squeezing the pulp!

1 Gallon recipe

  • 1 Lb of Blackcurrants from Tiger Barn
  • 1/2 Lb of Hawberries from Tiger Barn
  • 1 Lb of frozen Tayberries from Chosen Hill Farm
  • 1 Lb of frozen Boysenberries from Chosen Hill Farm
  • 1 Lb of Red Cherries from Marsh Farm
  • 2 1/2 Lbs of Blueberry Skins left over from Blueberry Melomel
  • 1/2 litre of Vitafit Apple Juice
  • 4 pints of boiling water
  • 1.5 pints of Rio Doro Red grape juice from Aldi
  • 1/2 litre Carton of Forest Fruits from Lidl
  • 1 teaspoon of pectolase
  • 1 Lb of sugar/Dextrose dissolved in 1 pint of water
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • 1/2 teaspoon of yeast energizer
  • Added Ritchies Port Yeast
  • Crushed campden tablets

My rule is of thumb is as always, only add as much sugar as you need to reach an SG of say 1.080 - 1.085 and that will almost guarantee a dry ferment at 12%.

You need to be more flexible with the amount of sugar and water, just make sure you end up with a gallon of wine and a pint in the fridge to top up after racking. I started using Dextrose rather than sugar some time ago, but this was the first time I saw it written in my notes. It's a cleaner ferment than sugar, some brew shops call it brewers sugar and sell it at high prices. I use it mostly to make high % alcohol to make liqueurs - If you can buy 25kg of Dextrose from a brewer or ice-cream maker near you, it's a lot cheaper than the silly carriage prices I've seen online.

Peach & Berries Port Style Wine

This was a great wine made from peach and berries. It was nice because our home grown Raspberries get a walk on part along with the last frozen Loganberries from Chosen Hill Farm. The fruit juice and grape juice just topped off a great Port Style wine. You need to be more flexible with the amount of sugar and water, just make sure you end up with a gallon of wine and a pint in the fridge to top up after racking. I started using Dextrose rather than sugar some time ago, but this was the first time I saw it written in my notes. It's a cleaner ferment than sugar, some brew shops call it brewers sugar and sell it at high prices. I use it mostly to make high % alcohol to make liqueurs - If you can buy 25kg of Dextrose from a brewer or ice-cream maker near you, it's a lot cheaper than the silly online prices I've seen.

1 Gallon recipe

  • Crushed 1 Lb of frozen Raspberries
  • Crushed 1 Lb of frozen Loganberries
  • 1 litre of Peach Juice
  • 4 pints of boiling water
  • 1.5 pints of Rio Doro Red grape juice from Aldi
  • 1/2 litre Carton of Forest Fruits from Lidl
  • 1 teaspoon of pectolase
  • 1 Lb of Dextrose dissolved in 1 pint of water
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 1/4 tsp Tartaric Acid
  • 1/2 teaspoon of yeast energizer
  • Ritchies Port Yeast
  • Crushed campden tablets

Sloe & Strawberry Port Style Wine

2 Gallon recipe

  • 4 Lbs of Sloes
  • 300 grams of Young's Strawberry Juice (1/3rd of a Can) or 1 1/2 Lbs of sliced fresh strawberries
  • Cup of strong tea for tanin
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 2-3 Lbs of sugar
  • 1 tsp Citric Acid
  • 2 tsp of yeast nutrients
  • Ritchies Port Yeast

I recommend freezing and thawing the fruits, then covering them in boiling water. As you don't need to remove the stones, it makes crushing the Sloes with your fingers easy and a potato masher is even faster.