Elderflower Wine (winemaking)

[~Wingnut~]

Hi Everyone :o)

We have just started an Elderflower wine fermenting, must say we have got quite into this winemaking lark :o)

Anyhoo my question is, I have never tried Elderflower wine and have just sniffed the flower sachet you get to go in the demijohn and it smelt like liqourice (sp?) Does Elderflower wine taste quite liquricy (sp?)? Can anyone discribe the taste?
(Please someone also tell me how to spell liqourice correctly!!!)

Thanx for any input :o)

[Cheekystar]

I'd say it tastes how it smells, flowery and mild, very light not liquroice-y

[nickmo]

Short answer: No; of elderflower and liquorice

Bit longer: grew up on the stuff and although there is a spicy background to the taste, the flower has a delicate, light, ginger and 'green' flavour. (Not quite Gilly Goulden version), and extremely drinkable and refreshing. Goes with light dishes or down it as a chilled wine on its own.

It is one of the most popular from Cairn O'Mohr Wines in Errol, who also use it I think as the base for their Strawberry Champagne style.

The wine should have little bit of a green tinge to it, and make sure it is really well filtered and clear. You may get a little secondary fermentation as well - watch for the bursting bottles...

[~Wingnut~]

Cool! Thanx for your input both of you. I must admit I'm really looking forward to trying this when It's ready!!

Are you a wine expert nickmo? or do you do your own winemaking? Your description was very good. Reckon you could give Gilly a run for her money ;o)

[brionon]

The best part is drinking it in the Winter, Bottled Sunshine.

[Cheekystar]

Just an after thought when I made elder flower champagne, I'd left it in the kithcen, when I gave a bottle to someone she put it in a cupboard and exploded! (Not that I minded, she turned out to be the tart who spilt my parents up!)

[ACB312]

Licorice is the first spelling in my dictionary but it states that it's a variation liquorice so you weren't too far out. I've made elderflower wine as well but using real hand picked elderflowers. It's very nice as a low-alcohol 'lemonade' but even better as 10-12% alcohol wine. Just make sure the ferment has really stopped (use campden tablet(s)) before giving any away. Post a request if you want a recipe and I'll dig one out or Google 'elderflower wine' and you'll find some.

[ACB312]

Sorry missed out an 'of' between variation and liquorice.

[~Wingnut~]

Oh wow thanx you guys :o) I appreciate all the input!

[nickmo]

Hi Wingnut - no just like to try to give a decent answer if I think I can - food / drink flavours are really difficult to describe in terms that people can identify - as well as everyone having perception of different flavours anyway, depending on lots of factors. Gilly uses expressions to get people into the though of taste / flavour, which is great 'cos its gets everyone thinking about what they want from a wine (or whatever)

I was at a wine and food tasting on Friday where we went through a stack of South American produce for a cookery school, and it is great to get to try a variety of things all at one go to get to recognise the flavours going on in what we eat / drink. I'd recommend that sort of thing for you if you want to experience a range of tastings - most cookery schools offer taster evenings or days, and you may also want to see if there is a home brew club near you that can offer some practical tips on your set up as well.

I did used to have a lot of the elderflower wine though as my father was a dedicated home brewer, and I reckon a lot of his bottling just stayed with me.

Hope your brew turns out ok!! And Happy Easter to you to......

[~Wingnut~]

Happy Easter to you as well Nickmo :o)

Thats a good suggestion about the food tasting and the local homebrew as I think this is a hobby that we will venture into more :o)

Hope you haven't eaten too much chocolate like I have :o( feel terrible lol (the kids should eat it quicker then I wouldn't! lol)

[nickmo]

Hi Wingnut - no don't really do chocolate - not a fan of paying millions of pounds over the odds to get extra packaging that only clogs up landfills.....(spot the eco excuse,... tee hee) and only getting the usual nasty choc anyway - I'm sure you know the majority of Easter eggs are made in the summer for sale the following year....yum....

About the homebrew - watch out for addictions - I bought my father one can of Boots beer kit - couple of years later we had 600 bottles of beer and wines with at least 12 demi-johns gurgling away constantly. I think it was the only reason I got invited to parties - it always came with the ..'bring a bottle too!'....trouble was, at 15% alcohol or so, it was a bit of a killer - especially for a bunch of 16 year olds....oooops...

You're in N.Yorks? (seen the B & S reply...) so get to one of the tastings run by FEAST: http://www.feastnet.net/events.asp and the one in Leyburn may be good to try some stuff if you can get to it - and get you shopping at the farmers' markets of course! I'm in regular touch with FEAST, and they do organise some good events. Try the Weetons tasting of yoghurts, in Harrogate. The shop is one of the best delis in the area - award winnning and all that. Try and buy local in there though.

If you have choc left after today - turn it into truffles - just break choc into a bowl over hot water and melt it, stir in some cream and a knob of butter, add a little flavoring (like a rum or a liqueur) and when well stirred, place in fridge for 30 mins.

When firm, use a tea spoon to lift out a piece at a time, roll into a ball and then in coca powder, vermicelli, icing sugar, crushed hazel nut, etc. Nice way to get the kids into making something and you can have fun licking the bowl......