The Parsnip Wine Makers
GUIDE
The Vintner's Approach:
"Root wines are a lesson in alchemy.
We take a humble soup vegetable and, through patience and acid balance, transmute it into a golden liquid that rivals a dry Chardonnay."
A practical guide to making parsnip wine, with expert upgrades
Making parsnip wine is a fun and rewarding process that can result in a unique and flavorful wine.
Parsnips, often overlooked in the culinary world, carry a natural sweetness and a soft, earthy perfume that can turn surprisingly elegant once fermentation does its quiet work.
The real trick is not forcing parsnips to taste like sour grapes.
The goal is to build structure around their gentle character, then let time do what time does best.
Master Vintner Insight: The Frost Factor
Parsnips are unique because they become sweeter and more aromatic when exposed to near-freezing temperatures.
For the absolute best wine, use parsnips harvested after the first hard frost.
If buying from a store, you can freeze your parsnips for 48 hours before brewing to improve extraction and aroma, freezing mainly ruptures cells and helps release flavour, it does not reliably convert starch to sugar the way an in-ground frost does.
The process of making parsnip wine involves boiling and straining parsnips, adding sugar, acid blend, tannin, yeast, and allowing the mixture to ferment cleanly through primary and secondary before bottling.
The result is a wine that can finish totally dry yet still feel rounded, with gentle root sweetness on the nose and a cleaner, more vinous structure on the palate.
A small upgrade that pays off immediately is thinking in three lanes: extraction, balance, and cleanliness.
Extraction gets you flavor, balance gives you drinkability, and cleanliness prevents heartbreak.
In this post, we will guide you through the process of making parsnip wine, from selecting the right parsnips to bottling the finished product.
We will also share tips and tricks to help you brew the perfect parsnip wine.
To your health!
The Bill of Materials
Ingredients & Selection
To make a great-tasting parsnip wine, you will need the following ingredients:
- 2-3 lbs fresh parsnips
- 1 lb sugar
- 1 teaspoon acid blend
- 1/4 tsp tannin
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1 package champagne yeast
Ingredient upgrade guidance: Choose parsnips that are firm, heavy for their size, and smell clean and sweet when you cut the skin.
If your parsnips are watery or tired, the wine will taste thin, even if fermentation goes perfectly.
Practical upgrade: Treat sugar as a target gravity decision, not a fixed number. For a 1 gallon batch, 1 lb of sugar will usually land far below the 1.085 to 1.090 range, so use your hydrometer and add sugar until you hit your target.
Parsnips contribute flavour and a small amount of soluble sugar, but most of the alcohol comes from what you add.
Sugar is not just sweetness, it is fuel, and your chosen level will shape alcohol, body, and aging potential. Yeast nutrient is not optional if you want a clean fermentation, root wines can be low in some yeast-friendly nutrients, and that is where stressed yeast starts throwing odd aromas.
Optional but high impact: pectic enzyme (for haze reduction and improved extraction) and a clean straining bag or mesh bag, these small tools make the finished wine clearer and the process calmer.
You'll need to have a pot to boil the parsnips, a drainer and a drum to ferment with.
Practical upgrade: If you can, use a mesh bag or a clean muslin cloth during the boil or steep stage, so straining becomes painless and you leave less fine sediment behind.
Less sediment early means fewer off flavors later, and it makes clarification easier.
A fermentation vessel with enough headspace matters too, parsnip must can foam and you do not want a sticky, aromatic eruption.
The Winemaking Protocol
Step-by-Step Execution
Simple instructions on how to make parsnip wine:
1. Prepare the parsnips by scrubbing them thoroughly and trimming the tops. Peel only if the skins taste bitter, or if the parsnips are older and woody.
Keep pieces small and consistent so extraction is predictable.
2. Boil them in water for at least 15 minutes or until they become soft. Do not aggressively boil for ages, long hard boiling can drive off delicate aromatics and tilt toward cooked vegetable notes.
A gentle simmer that softens the parsnips is usually enough.
⚠️ The Starch Haze Warning
Root vegetables are packed with starch and fine solids. If you boil too vigorously or cook until mushy, you extract gelatinised starch and micro-particles that can create stubborn haze.
Pectic Enzyme helps with pectin-related haze and extraction, but it does not fix starch haze.
If you want a cleaner, brighter wine, prevent starch carryover with a gentle simmer and careful straining, and only use Amylase as an optional advanced move in a warm pre-fermentation rest (after cooking, before yeast), around 60 to 65°C for 30 to 60 minutes, then cool fully before pitching yeast.
3. Strain the parsnips and save the liquid. You no longer need the parsnips so you can eat them or compost them! Strain thoroughly, do not press hard, then let the liquid settle for 20 to 30 minutes before transferring to your fermenter.
This helps heavier solids drop out and gives you a cleaner ferment.
4. Add sugar, acid blend, and tannin to the liquid and stir until dissolved. Dissolve sugar fully before you take any readings.
If you own a hydrometer, this is the moment to capture a baseline starting gravity, it is one of the best tools for repeatability.
📈 Specific Gravity Targets
For a balanced Parsnip wine (approx 11-12% ABV), aim for a Starting Gravity (SG) of 1.085 to 1.090.
If your hydrometer reads lower, add a bit more sugar. If higher, dilute with a splash of water.
5. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Cool with the lid on to reduce contamination risk, and avoid leaving warm must exposed for long.
6. Add yeast nutrient and yeast. Before pitching, stir or shake the must to introduce oxygen. Early oxygen helps yeast build healthy cell walls, and that usually means a cleaner fermentation and better finish.
Yeast choice drives style, a neutral, high-tolerance yeast tends to give a very dry, clean finish, while a white wine yeast selected for mouthfeel can produce a rounder, slightly more aromatic parsnip wine at the same ABV.
🧪 Yeast Health Upgrade: nutrient timing beats nutrient amount
Root musts can be nitrogen-poor. For cleaner fermentation, use a complete wine nutrient and split the dose, part at pitch, part after 24 to 48 hours while fermentation is active.
This lowers the risk of sluggish finishes and reduces the chance of sulphur aromas from stressed yeast.
7. Cover and ferment for 3-4 weeks. Keep the ferment in a stable temperature zone, big swings can stress yeast and flatten aromas.
If you can, give the fermenter a gentle swirl once a day in the first few days to keep yeast in suspension and reduce sluggish starts.
For best results, treat this as primary fermentation, then rack to a demijohn for secondary once vigorous activity slows, usually around 7 to 10 days, and aim for a steady fermentation zone around 16 to 20°C for most white wine yeasts.
8. Strain and bottle. Rack first, then bottle later. Moving the wine off its sediment into a clean vessel reduces off flavors and improves clarity.
Bottle only after the gravity is stable for at least a week, fermentation is truly finished, the wine is largely clear, and you can rack cleanly off settled sediment.
✅ Bottling Gate: Do not bottle until this is true
- Gravity is stable for at least 7 days (two or three identical readings).
- No visible signs of fermentation (no steady bubbling, no renewed foaming after stirring).
- Wine is mostly clear and has dropped a firm layer of sediment you can rack off cleanly.
- Acid balance tastes “alive” not flat, and not sharply thin (adjust by bench trial, not guesswork).
- Wine is degassed enough that it pours without constant fizz, trapped CO2 can mimic acidity and hide flaws.
9. Allow to condition/age for at least 6 months before drinking. This is where the magic happens, harsh edges soften, aromas knit together, and the wine becomes rounder and more coherent.
If you want a more refined result, bulk-age in a topped-up demijohn, rack once more when a firm sediment layer forms, then bottle only when fully dry and stable.
Tips from the Cellar
Technique Refinement
Here are some tips for making parsnip wine:
- Use fresh parsnips: Choose parsnips that are firm, heavy for their size, and free of bruises or soft spots. Old or damaged parsnips can bring dull, earthy, sometimes bitter notes that do not mellow gracefully in the bottle. If you can, avoid parsnips that have started sprouting, sprouting can shift starch and flavor balance and make the must harder to predict.
- Sanitise your equipment: Clean and sanitise everything that touches cooled must, fermenting wine, or finished wine, including the fermenter, airlock, siphon, spoon, and bottles. The highest contamination risk is after cooling, when the must is warm, sugary, and inviting to wild microbes. If you are unsure whether something is clean enough, sanitise it again, it is quicker than trying to rescue a batch later.
- Use a hydrometer: A hydrometer lets you track specific gravity so you can see fermentation progress and know when it is actually finished. Take a reading on brew day, then check again about 5 days later. If you get the same reading on two consecutive days, fermentation is probably complete. Write the readings down, this is how you learn what your yeast does in your home, in your climate, with your ingredients, and it is how you get repeatable results. Do not bottle until gravity is stable over multiple readings and the wine is no longer producing gas.
- Taste and smell with purpose: Taste during fermentation and before bottling to judge whether the balance needs more acidity, tannin, or time. Smell is your early warning system, if it turns sharply solvent-like or throws strong sulphur, it is a cue to pause and troubleshoot before the issue sets into the batch. If you smell struck match or rotten egg early, it is usually yeast stress, keep temperature steady, gently swirl to resuspend yeast, and review nutrient timing before you do anything drastic.
- Be patient with ageing: Parsnip wine improves with time because harsh edges soften, aromatics knit together, and sediment drops out. Give it at least 6 months before judging it. Store bottles consistently cool and dark, away from heat swings and sunlight, which accelerate oxidation and can flatten flavor. Consistent storage is one of the simplest ways to get a calmer, smoother ageing curve.
Structure & Balance
Acids & Tannins
What is 'acid blend' and how does it help?
Acid blend is a mixture of different acids (typically tartaric, malic, and citric acid) that is used to adjust the acidity level in wine. It is often added to wine must (juice, skins, and solids before fermentation) to ensure the proper acid balance for wine making.
In the case of parsnip wine, parsnips are relatively low in acidity, so adding an acid blend helps to balance the pH level and create a more stable environment for fermentation.
Additionally, it helps to preserve the wine and gives it a more pleasant flavor, by providing a balance of sweetness and tartness.
A proper acidity level in wine is essential for a good wine structure, aging potential and preservation. It's important to note that the amount of acid blend to be added depends on the acidity level of the parsnips, the desired acidity level in the wine, and personal preference.
Because acid blends vary by brand and ratio, the most reliable approach is a small bench trial in a sample glass, then scale the chosen dose to the full batch.
A cleaner, more confident parsnip wine, small moves that change everything
- Build the must in stages. Add most of your sugar up front, but hold back a little so you can adjust later after tasting and checking fermentation behavior. This helps avoid over-sweet, hot alcohol results.
- Take control of clarity early. Strain well, let the liquid settle, rack off sediment, then rack again after fermentation. Time plus clean transfers produces a brighter, more professional finish.
- Treat oxygen like a tool, then treat it like a threat. Early oxygen helps yeast. Later oxygen dulls aroma and can push stale flavors, so once fermentation is underway, keep splashing to a minimum.
- Mind the temperature. Stable fermentation temperatures help yeast behave predictably. Wild temperature swings can lead to harsh flavors and incomplete fermentation.
- Use taste as your compass. If it tastes flabby, you usually need a touch more acid. If it tastes sharp and thin, you may have pushed acidity too far or need more time and body to round it out.
Why is tannins added to parsnip wine?
Tannins are a group of naturally occurring compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems, as well as in other fruits and plants.
They are added to wine for a variety of reasons. In the case of parsnip wine, tannins are added to provide structure and complexity to the wine.
They can help to balance the sweetness of the wine, add depth and bitterness to the flavor, and give the wine a more full-bodied mouthfeel. Tannins also act as a natural preservative and help to improve the wine's aging potential, which is quite ideal for a homemade parsnip wine (that can be aged for six months!).
When making parsnip wine, the tannins are usually added in the form of grape tannin powder or tea made from the bark of certain trees, such as oak.
The recipe provided above calls for 1/4 tsp of tannin, but the amount can be adjusted to your preference. It's important to use caution when adding tannins as too much can make the wine taste overly dry and astringent.
Expert trick: add tannin early, then reassess later. Tannin can feel blunt when young, but it often integrates beautifully after aging.
If you are unsure, start low, tannin can be added later, but it is hard to remove once overdone and different tannin powders vary in strength by volume.
Aging, Matching & Variants
The Vintner's Lifecycle
How long should parsnip wine be stored before drinking?
Your parsnip wine should be aged for at least 6 months before drinking. This conditioning period allows the flavors and aromas to develop, and it also allows any sediment to settle out of the wine.
During the aging process, the wine should be stored in a cool, dark place away from light and vibration. The bottles should be stored on their sides to keep the cork moist and prevent air from entering the bottle.
After 6 months, the wine should be clarified and stabilized before bottling. In practice, most refined parsnip wines are bulk-aged in a topped-up demijohn, racked at least once more, then stabilized if needed and bottled only when clear and fully dry.
It's worth noting that many wines, including parsnip wine, can improve with additional aging. Some parsnip wines can actually be aged for several years (if you have the patience), and will continue to develop new flavors and aromas over time.
It's important to keep in mind that wine does not last forever, and eventually, it will start to deteriorate.
Oxidation control move: During bulk aging, minimize headspace, top up after every racking, and avoid splashing. Slow, controlled oxygen exposure can add a gentle nuttiness over time, but careless oxygen can push stale, bruised-vegetable notes.
Expert trick: if you can, taste one bottle at 6 months, one at 12, and you will learn what your own parsnip wine does with time.
What is the shelf life of bottled parsnip wine?
The shelf life of parsnip wine will depend on various factors, such as the alcohol content, storage conditions, and the freshness of the ingredients used in making the wine.
Typically, parsnip wine has a moderate alcohol content, around 12-14% ABV. If the wine is stored properly in cool (45-55°F), dark conditions, away from light and vibration, it can last for several years, potentially up to 5 years or more.
However, the wine's taste and quality will start to deteriorate over time, even if the wine has not technically gone "bad". It's best to consume the wine within the first 2-3 years for optimal taste and freshness. Before consuming, it's a good idea to check the aroma, flavor, and appearance of the wine to ensure it's still good to drink.
Conditioning suggestion: if you have multiple bottles, store a couple separately as “time capsules” and compare at 12, 24, and 36 months.
What extra ingredients can be added to parsnip wine?
There are many ingredients that can be added to parsnip wine to enhance its flavor and complexity. Here are a few options:
- Raisins: Raisins can be added to parsnip wine to provide additional sweetness. They can also add a nice fruity flavor to the wine. They should be added during the fermentation process.
- Lemon: Lemon can be added to parsnip wine to add acidity, freshness and aroma. It can be added to the wine must before fermentation or can be added in the form of lemon juice.
- Spices: Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice can be added to parsnip wine add to the flavor. They can be added to the wine must before fermentation.
- Herbs: Herbs such as thyme, rosemary or sage can be added to parsnip wine to add depth and complexity to the flavor. They can be added to the wine must before fermentation.
- Honey: Honey can be added to parsnip wine to provide sweetness and complexity.
It's important to note that when adding these ingredients, it's important to use small amounts at first. Expert trick: add bold flavors in a way you can reverse.
For spices and herbs, consider steeping them separately and blending small amounts into a sample glass, so you do not overdo the whole batch.
For body, raisins or a small amount of white grape concentrate can help parsnip wine feel more “vinous” without turning it into a fruit wine.
What meals can parsnip wine be matched to?
Parsnip wine can be paired with a variety of meals, depending on the specific style and flavor profile of the wine. Here are a few suggestions (the roast sounds most appealing to us):
- Roasted meats: Parsnip wine can be paired with roasted meats such as pork, beef, or lamb. Its sweetness can complement the rich flavors of the meat and its acidity can cut through the fat.
- Root vegetables: Parsnip wine can be paired with other root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and turnips. Its sweetness can complement the earthy flavors of the vegetables and its acidity can balance the dish.
- Cheese: Parsnip wine can be paired with a variety of cheeses, particularly soft and hard cheese. Its sweetness can complement the richness of the cheese and its acidity can balance it.
- Stews and soups: Parsnip wine can be paired with hearty stews and soups such as beef or pork stew, or vegetable soup. Its sweetness can complement the rich flavors of the stew and its acidity can cut through the fat.
- Desserts: Parsnip wine can be paired with desserts such as apple or pumpkin pie, or other sweet desserts. Its sweetness can complement the sweetness of the dessert and its acidity can balance it.
Pairing trick: If your parsnip wine finishes drier, lean savory. If it finishes sweeter, lean toward salt and fat to balance it, cheese becomes your best friend.
Many types of fruits and vegetables can be used to make wine
Some examples include:
- Berries such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries can be used to make wine. They have a high sugar content and can make a delicious and flavorful wine.
- Apple wine is a popular alternative to grape wine. Apples have a high sugar content and can make a dry or sweet wine depending on the type of apple used.
- Cherry wine is a popular choice.
- Pears can also be used to make wine, similar to apples, pears have a high sugar content and can make a dry or sweet wine.
- Rhubarb: Rhubarb is a popular choice for making wine, it has a high acidity and can make a dry or sweet wine.
- Elderberries can be used to make wine, it has a rich and complex flavor, and it's usually paired with other fruits or spices.
- Pumpkin can be used to make wine, it's a flavorful and unique wine that can be paired with different meals, particularly with spicy meals.
- Carrots can also be used to make wine, it's a unique and flavorful wine that can be paired with different meals.
- Beets can also be used to make wine, it's a unique and flavorful wine that can be paired with different meals.
The goal for your wine should be to have full-bodied mouthfeel and a pleasant aroma, which makes it an excellent wine to be paired with different meals.
By experimenting with ingredients and proper conditioning, your parsnip wine could be the talk of the party!
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