Chapter 9. Rose Wines And Miscellaneous Recipes

Let me begin this chapter by assuring you that one of the loveliest flower and rose wines I have ever tasted was made with gorse flowers by a member of the Bournemouth Wine-Makers' Circle. This I sampled while lecturing at the Town Hall there on the occasion of the Amateur Wine-Makers' Second Annual Conference and Show.

Flower wines, cannot, of course, be likened to any other homemade wine or commercial wine because their flavors are unique; they can only be described as delicately aromatic, their bouquet cannot be found in any other wine.

The popularity of rose wines is lessened only by the labor of collecting the flowers; but by choosing a spot where they abound, enough for a gallon or two may be gathered in an hour.

Care is needed if we are to get the best from our ingredients. When gathering the flowers it is best to use a basket of ample size because crushing will damage the flowers and we shall not get such a delightful wine.

All flowers should be gathered on a dry day but not necessarily on a sunny one; though it must be sunny when collecting dandelions otherwise they are either closed or half-closed and difficult to find. In their closed state they teem with insects which would get into the wine and spoil it. Dandelions close when gathered but this does not matter. In fact it is a great help because we should use only the petals of dandelions, and when they are closed the petals may be pulled out all together merely by holding the head of the flower and pulling on the petals grouped together.

Although only petals should be used many people make quite a good dandelion wine by using the whole heads, but I use petals only.

To achieve the best result a wine yeast should be used and this may be an all-purpose wine yeast. Invert sugar should not be used in these recipes because it is inclined to slightly alter the aroma of the flower and change the delicate color of the wines made from recipes in this chapter.

Bakers' yeast is included in the recipe together with household sugar; those preferring to use a wine yeast 'started' as directed may, of course, do so.

5 pts gorse flowers, 3 lb. sugar, 1 gal. water, 1 oz. yeast. Five pints is the minimum amount of gorse flowers to use, you may use more if you wish up to one gallon if you can get them Other ingredients would remain the same.

Put the flowers in the fermenting vessel and pour on half a gallon of boiling water. Cover and leave to soak for three days, stirring each day and covering again at once.

Boil half the sugar in a quart of water for two minutes and when this is cool add to the flower mixture. Then add the yeast and ferment for three days.

Strain out the flowers and continue to ferment the liquor in the fermenting vessel for a further seven days.

Then pour into a gallon jar, leaving as much of the deposit behind as you can. Boil the rest of the sugar in the remaining water for two minutes and when cool add to the rest.

Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and continue to ferment until all fermentation has ceased.

Many people prefer this when the juice of one lemon is added at the same time as the yeast.

CLOVER WINE (Use only Mauve Clover)

3 qts clover heads, 2 lemons, 3 lb. sugar, 1 gal. water, 1 oz. yeast.

Pull off the petals by gathering them between the fingers whilst holding the base of the flower head. Put the petals in the fermenting vessel and pour on half a gallon of boiling water. Leave well covered for twelve hours.

Boil half the sugar in a quart of water for two minutes and when cool add this to the rest. Then add the yeast and ferment the mixture for seven days.

Strain out the flowers, but do not squeeze too hard, and put the liquor into a gallon jar. Then boil the rest of the sugar in the remaining water and when cool add this to the rest. Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

1 gal. flower heads without the tiniest piece of stalk, 3 lb. sugar, 1 oz. yeast, 1 gal. water, 2 lemons.

Remove petals as directed for clover wine. Put the petals in the fermenting vessel and pour on three quarts of water boiling and leave to soak for seven days, well covered.

Stir daily, and cover again at once. Strain and wring out fairly tightly and return the liquor to the fermenting vessel. Boil half the sugar in a pint of water and when cool add to the liquor, then add the yeast and the juice of two lemons.

Cover as directed and ferment for seven days. Then pour carefully into a gallon jar, leaving as much deposit behind as you can. After this, boil the rest of the sugar in the remaining pint of water and when cool add to the rest. Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

1 gal. coltsfoot flowers, 3 lb. sugar, 1 gal. water, 1 oz. yeast.

Pull the petals off in the same way as for dandelions. The method for making this wine is identical to the recipe for making dandelion wine on page 93.

2 qts of the flowers, 31 lb. sugar, 1 oz. yeast and 1 gal. water.

Gathered when the flowers are about to drop they may be shaken off into the fermenting vessel.

The method for making this wine is identical to the recipe for making dandelion wine on page 93.

1 gal. flower, 1 gal. water, 3 ½lb. sugar, 1 oz. yeast, 2 lemons.

Boil half the sugar in half a gallon of water and while boiling pour over the flowers in the fermenting vessel. Add the juice of the lemons and when the mixture is cool add the yeast. Cover as directed and ferment for seven days.

Strain out the flowers and wring out well, but not too dry. Put the strained liquor in a gallon jar.

Boil the rest of the sugar and water for two minutes and when cool add to the rest. Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

Another very good elder flower wine may be made in exactly the same way as the above using only five pints of the flowers with three pounds of sugar, two lemons, 1 oz. yeast and one gallon water.

ROSE PETAL WINE

One of the most delightful of all flower wines. The petals of roses of various colors may be used in one lot of wine, but if you have enough of, say, both red and yellow for a separate lot of each, do keep them separate.

3 qts rose petals {strongly scented if possible), 1 gal. water, 3 lb. sugar, 1 oz. yeast, 2 lemons.

Pour half a gallon of boiling water over the petals in the fermenting vessel, cover well and leave for forty-eight hours, stirring often.

Boil half the sugar in a quart of water for two minutes and when this is cool add to the petal mixture and ferment for three days.

Strain and wring out well, and return the liquor to the fermenting vessel and let it ferment for a further ten days.

Pour the liquor into a gallon jar, leaving as much of the deposit behind as you can. Then boil the rest of the sugar and water as before and when cool add to the rest together with the juice of the lemons. Cover again as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

Many wine-makers save left-overs from the teapot until they have enough to make a gallon of wine, but I find that the flavor of the wine is somewhat impaired when this is done. Better to make a gallon of weak tea and to start straight off. Don't be tempted to make strong tea for this purpose otherwise you will have too much tannin in the wine.

8 teaspoonfuls of tea, 1 gal. water, 1 lb. raisins, juice of 2 lemons, 3 lb. sugar, 1 oz. yeast.

Make tea in the ordinary way using eight teaspoonfuls and a quart of water. Let it stand undisturbed for ten minutes, and then strain into the fermenting vessel.

Boil half the sugar in half a gallon of water for two minutes and when cool add this to the tea. Then add the raisins and finely sliced lemons and their juice. Add the yeast and ferment for ten days, stirring daily. Strain into a gallon jar. Then boil the rest of the sugar in the remainder of the water for two minutes and when cool add this to the rest. Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave to ferment in a warm place until all fermentation has ceased.

IMITATION TIA MARIA

I am not fond of this myself, but I know of a good many people who are and who make this wine quite regularly.

The best plan is to make either easy potato wine or easy parsnip wine as on pages 55-6, and when this has ceased fermenting flavor it with freshly made coffee or one of the proprietary brands of essence. But do this very carefully as it is easy to overdo it, thus spoiling the flavor.