Grandma's Peach Wine Apéritif

This recipe details Grandma Nicole's traditional French recipe for peach wine — a sweet, flavorful drink, perfect as an apéritif!

In the following steps and pictures, we are preparing 2.5L of peach wine (200 peach leaves).

Ingredients (yields approx. 1.25L)

1. 100 peach leaves
2. 30 cane sugar cubes
3. 1 packet of vanilla sugar
4. 1L red wine (dry white wine also works)
5. 1 glass of spirit (approx. 0.2L) – mine is 50% ABV homemade apple brandy

Equipment

1. Bucket or large basin
2. Glass bottles with a sealing/closure system
3. Glass bowls
4. Spoon
5. Glass
6. Salad spinner
7. Funnel
8. Skimmer
9. Kitchen towels / tea towels

Start by finding the most beautiful peach tree you can — it should look healthy and green.

I personally harvest the leaves at the beginning of July (in my opinion the best time, where I live in South Brittany, France). This timing may vary depending on where you live.

By hand, select the freshest and largest leaves from your tree. Make sure they look healthy — no signs of disease, parasites, or insects.

I make batches of 25 leaves to keep count easily, collecting them in a bucket.

Inside your bucket, carefully wash the leaves by hand, mixing them in water. Repeat as many times as needed, changing the water between each wash.

Afterwards, dry the leaves using your salad spinner — do this in multiple batches if necessary. Place the dried leaves into your glass bowls, making sure not to overfill them, as you'll need space for the next step.

Once your leaves are clean and in the glass bowl, pour the spirit over them. Give everything a gentle stir to make sure every leaf is coated with alcohol.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 24 hours. The high-proof alcohol will begin to macerate and draw out the flavors from the leaves. You can stir the mixture several times with a spoon during this period.

After this resting time, your leaves should have darkened noticeably, as shown in the next step.

Still in the same glass bowl (now containing the macerated leaves and spirit alcohol), pour in your wine. Cover the bowl again with a kitchen towel and let it rest for a further 48 hours. You can stir the mixture several times during this period.

Begin by removing all the leaves using a skimmer — no need to fully filter the liquid at this stage, as there should be very little sediment or particles. Make sure to drain the leaves well so that as much liquid as possible remains in the bowl.

Add the cane sugar cubes and the vanilla sugar packet to the bowl. Let them fully dissolve, stirring if needed.

At this stage, feel free to taste the mixture and adjust the sweetness to your liking by adding more sugar if desired!

Using a funnel, carefully fill your glass bottles with the finished peach wine.

This drink keeps very well — easily a year or more — whether stored in the fridge or at room temperature, depending on your preference. In terms of conservation, it is comparable to Port wine.

You can enjoy the peach wine immediately after bottling — no further waiting required.

It is a delicious, flavorful, and pleasantly sweet drink that most people will love.

Enjoy it as an apéritif or at the end of a meal, as you wish! Santé! 🥂