Elderberry Wine (Dried Elders)

[SPAF]

I personally am not into spiced wines (although technically oaking isn't Not a spicing, albeit one of long tradition). But sounds like a good Christmas special.

And yep, just find a few articles to read in the winemaking magazine about the science behind oak aging.

 

[ckvchestnut]

I personally am not into spiced wines (although technically oaking isn't Not a spicing, albeit one of long tradition). But sounds like a good Christmas special. And yep, just find a few articles to read in the winemaking magazine about the science behind oak aging.

Yes I will thank you. I'm not really going for so much spice that it will taste like your Christmas wine treat - more on less so subtle that it leaves you pondering what those flavors are. So we'll see how it turns out. Today the big red got only 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1 clove, 1 anise star and 2 cinnamon sticks. Let's hope for the best lol! Until then I'm looking for magazine articles!

 

[ckvchestnut]

Update! This wine turned out to be the most wonderful wine I have made so far! I'm in love! It turned out to be a robust, fruity flavour with mellow mocha and vanilla on the finish. Just sort of melds together in your mouth and promoting utter euphoria! Thank gosh I took thorough notes on what I did so I can replicate this next year! Wow and who says it has to age at least a year before elderberry can taste relatively good!

I didn't get around to oaking this wine and perhaps a year from now it might benefit from some but maybe not. Just amazing! The only thing that I added in the primary apart from the elderberries was 2 cans of white grape concentrate just to diversify the flavour a bit.

I gave several bottles away for Christmas it was that good

 

[FTC Wines]

Ckv...Be sure to let some age. I have a batch of dried Elderberry Wine that is now 3.5 yrs old. It came into its own at 18 mo, & improved till 3 yrs. used 5 packages of dried berries to 5 gals, if memory is good, as per E C Krause. Later batches tried 6 packs but we liked it with 5 better. It's my sons favorite wine! My Grandfather made Elderberry Wine but I never got to taste his! Roy

 

[ckvchestnut]

Thanks Roy! I am doing that for sure! I have never tried elderberry wine up til now and have never had any made with dried elderberries either. I wonder what the differences are in taste? We planted elderberries I think the 2nd year after we moved here and last summer really was the first year I harvested them for winemaking. It was definitely worth the wait to get a full crop for 18 gallons of wine - it's really good! I can't wait til next year! I'm thinking if I end up with extras instead freezing them all, I'll dry some, it must add to the overall body or mouthfeel as well as flavour!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ

 

[ckvchestnut]

Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ

OMG that sounds Devine! You're inspiring me to try new things next fall! I LOVED the chocolate in this wine for sure! I might try my hand at some syrup. How long did you oak for again? I hope it's not back here in this thread I'd better go read again... My daughter is on a trip with her BF in Montreal and they brought a bottle with them, she said it was lovely and they could just taste a hint of the chocolate... To me when I taste it, it just sort of hits the top of your palate as it's going down and then lingers... Too bad it's only 11am or I'd go have a taste lol! With the 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract it seems to give it that mellow mocha taste as well. In addition to those I used anise star and 1 stick cinnamon and 1 clove... Can't taste it readily in the wine but wonder if it did have some kind of impact on the flavour.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Check out our elderberry page, we grow a bunch of them and thought we were going to have a record crop this year until a stupid little fruit fly showed up and all the berries just fell off the plants. We were already organizing to dry many pounds of them. We like to soak the berrie overnight in warm water and then gently simmer for about 20 minutes and only leave the fruit in about 3 days or just go ahead and drain them so the tannins dont get out of hand. These dried elderberries are so much different than the fresh ones, kind of like rasians and grapes are different, with what I think you will agree a deep flavor profile. We are going to sacarfice a lot of flowers next spring for adding to ciders and leave enough to hope to get some berries if the flies were just passing thru or this very cold spell knocked them back a bit. WVMJ

 

[ckvchestnut]

Certainly I'll go check it out! That's terrible you had some kind of fly ruin your crop?? We had those spit bugs the first few years of growth but I dealt with them manually, haven't seen any flies on them as of yet... What did they look like? Yes I can only imagine the more earthy type flavour the dried elderberries would impart! Kim definitely going to dry some. So you simmer them and then dry them? Or sorry... Your instructions were a bit fuzzy I wasn't sure if you were referring to making syrup or prepping berries for the must or drying them!

Do you have a website? I thought maybe there's be a link on your profile?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

No we pick the berries, and put them in a dehydrator. The cooking is part of using them for making wine. The last line in this post has my sig with webpage. We had two spotted drosophila, hoping this cold weather wipes them out! WVMJ

Certainly I'll go check it out! That's terrible you had some kind of fly ruin your crop?? We had those spit bugs the first few years of growth but I dealt with them manually, haven't seen any flies on them as of yet... What did they look like? Yes I can only imagine the more earthy type flavour the dried elderberries would impart! Kim definitely going to dry some. So you simmer them and then dry them? Or sorry... Your instructions were a bit fuzzy I wasn't sure if you were referring to making syrup or prepping berries for the must or drying them!

Do you have a website? I thought maybe there's be a link on your profile?

 

[seth8530]

OMG that sounds Devine! You're inspiring me to try new things next fall! I LOVED the chocolate in this wine for sure! I might try my hand at some syrup. How long did you oak for again? I hope it's not back here in this thread I'd better go read again... My daughter is on a trip with her BF in Montreal and they brought a bottle with them, she said it was lovely and they could just taste a hint of the chocolate... To me when I taste it, it just sort of hits the top of your palate as it's going down and then lingers... Too bad it's only 11am or I'd go have a taste lol! With the 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract it seems to give it that mellow mocha taste as well. In addition to those I used anise star and 1 stick cinnamon and 1 clove... Can't taste it readily in the wine but wonder if it did have some kind of impact on the flavour.

I am glad your elderberry wine looks like it is turning out. I would not mess with it way too much at this point and take more of a wait and see attitude for now. Perhaps some oak would be cool.

I have never had elderberry anything before so I can only imagine how it taste.

Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ

That mead sounds pretty dang good, I must admit I am a bit jealous of your edible plants and your mead.

 

[ckvchestnut]

WVMJ ok thanks for the clarification I'll have to look up those flies! Hmmm I'm on the mobile forum app and it doesn't show signatures or websites I'll go on my laptop!

Seth: ya I'm leaving this batch alone, it's bottled up and aging in bottles now as i needed the carboys so we'll see what they taste like next fall!

Some people may not like elderberry but I love it, it's not overly unique to the point of being peculiar but it's a refreshing change from the usual grape wines...

 

[wineforfun]

Did you put chocolate in the secondary? or how exactly did you go about adding the chocolate and vanilla?
I may do that with my second carboy but am leaning toward leaving it straight elderberry since the other carboy is already oaked.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Did you put chocolate in the secondary? or how exactly did you go about adding the chocolate and vanilla? I may do that with my second carboy but am leaning toward leaving it straight elderberry since the other carboy is already oaked.

I put 300 gms of unsweetened pure dark bakers chocolate in my 6 gallon batch in the secondary and 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract as well as 1 clove, 1 anise star and a long cinnamon stick broken up. Not sure what affect the other things had on my wine but the overall effect on the flavour profile was a mellow mocha flavour mixed with round berry flavours that is just sumptuous! It's not overpowering though at all I can still taste the full flavour of the elderberries. I remember after I racked it after a month of being on the chocolate and other stuff that the smell and taste seemed too strong. So I racked it off the chocolate and all the flavours toned down and melded together perfectly.

 

[wineforfun]

Thank you. Sounds very tasty.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Welcome look forward to hearing updates!

 

[SPAF]

Update with latest tasting notes:

I brought a bottle home to VA for my parents on Christmas. We had a little tasting event in the house before dinner with some cheeses and sausages and man did it turn out spectacular. My dad was amazed how different (pleasantly that is) this is compared to anything he's had before, and he's a hard skeptic to impress. Here's a copy of my notes:

"25-Dec-2013
Tasting: Definite honey aroma. Berry-front flavor with quick punch of acidity and slight non-persisting astringency. Good body through mid-palate. Hint of honey at back-end. Paired well with goat cheese. Would not recommend for main course. Rather, very good choice as aperitif with charcuterie. Would do well with oak-barrel aging. Overall, very impressed with this Eldermel."

Pic attached:

 

[SPAF]

To clarify, I seem to have mixed up this thread with both my straight wine and my honey-wine. I'm obviously talking about the honey-wine now. Pretty much every note taken thus far has been about the melomel.

 

[vernsgal]

Some people may not like elderberry but I love it, it's not overly unique to the point of being peculiar but it's a refreshing change from the usual grape wines...

When I 1st went to spagnols, the 'then owner' told me,quote "you add elderberries to everything" . I don't follow that anymore but I do know it adds a whole new flavor to your wine!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Do you mean they were adding it to their kits?? Elderberries are great to add to other red wines, justify adding them as a tannin source, a kick up in color and adding a little flavor behind your main fruit - at home. We just opened a red currant plus dried elderberry well oaked started Christmas 2010 and in the bottle for a year and a half, perfect blend of acid and flavor from the currants, color and tannins from the elders and the oak just compliments them both so well. This is the last batch with red currants, the bushes dont do so well here and only live a couple of years before some fungus takes them out. So glad we put elderberries in this, we can stretch out the aging over a longer time with them in there. WVMJ

When I 1st went to spagnols, the 'then owner' told me,quote "you add elderberries to everything" . I don't follow that anymore but I do know it adds a whole new flavor to your wine!