A little wine making

Now that I have the Elderflower kits under way (two of them and the demijohn's are sat on the bathroom windowsill) I am keen to get other types of wine on the go too.  A nice beverage or two I think enhances whatever meal you might be having and so much the better if you have made it yourself from scratch.  Not that we are big drinkers but we do appreciate a glass of wine with the Sunday lunch.  I am speaking of country wines here, rather than specialised wines made purely from grapes.  I think they have far more personality.  In my youth (and over the age of 18) I used to enjoy the occasional glass of red wine - usually with my Dad, but as I have aged (not like a mature wine I hesitate to say) my tolerance levels for red wine have diminished somewhat.

I have plans to get some Nettle wine, Hawthorn blossom wine, some orange wine on the go as well.  On speaking with my friend BB she is looking to make some Gorse wine, so I will try and keep a look out for some Gorse as well.  When the Elderflowers come out I shall be looking to make Elderflower Champagne, Elderflower cordial and Elderflower wine as well as drying plenty of Elderflower petals for making wine and cordial later on in the year.

I have Rhubarb growing in the garden at the moment.  I am tempted to make a couple of batches of Rhubarb wine from it, as Rhubarb is a really delicious wine to make. Jury is out at the moment though as am tempted to do some crumbles for the freezer also and then of course there is Rhubarb Syrup and Rhubarb Vodka and Gin, Strawberry and Rhubarb jam which is one of my favourite's and lots of other goodies too.  Might have to invest in some more Rhubarb plants.  Better add these to the list as well.

I remember my mum made Rhubarb wine and was terribly disappointed in it.  She had made a couple of batches and when straining off the lees had been very put off by the sourness of it at that stage.  Mum and Dad then went out for a meal with friends ant an expensive restaurant and had an expensive wine, which made mum think that her wine was not so bad after all.  She re-tested it later in the week and it tasted the same as the wine that they had had.  It had matured in the bottle.  Mum only ended up with the one Demijohn (not the two) as she had thrown one away.  That wine will always stick in my memory as will the Nettle wine. Mum added dried root ginger to the brew (recipe was C J Berry recipe) and the delicate flavour came through in a very sweet white wine that was superb.  However what sticks in mind more than anything else is the foraging trips we had looking for the wild ingredients and the fun that we had as a family along the way.  

I also have a tin of Ma Made Marmalade pulp which is also getting to its use by date.  Might turn that into some wine as well.  Waste not want not and I have made marmalade this year from scratch.

I have also found a cheap beer kit (in my sorting out) that I had forgotten about so may well have a go at that too.  Have saved some beer bottles de-labelled them and scrubbed them up.  They are currently in a box ready to go although I have a few more to scrub up from out of the shed.  I am a bit like my Nan in that I tend not to throw jars and bottles away as I can nearly always find a use for them.  I have crown caps and a crown cap corker as well as a corking machine in the wine making/preserving armoury.  I also have a beer warming mat (plug in one) that has never been used.  There is also the Apple Press in the shed.  Have not used that yet it is a brand new Vigo press that I treated myself to.   I suspect that this year it is going to be "pressed" into service for apple juice, cider and Perry.  I do love a good glass of sweet Perry especially if it has been chilled.   It is the Country part of me coming out and looking to escape!

There are a lot more wines that I also want to add to the list and hopefully will be able to get into full swing soon utilising the veg shop and their fruit reductions.  It will be good to get back into full swing on the drinks front again.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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