Elderberry wines

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

skyfire322

Junior Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
403
Reaction score
309
Location
Ft Wayne, IN, US
From home winemakers up to larger wineries, I've been seeing an increase of elderberry wine, especially in the Midwest.

I personally have never tried it, but was curious as to why it's so popular. Is it because the fruit is versatile or easy to work with?
 
1. Elderberry is abundant. Drive any highway in the Midwest in late May and you will recognize the elderberry flower heads everywhere.
2. It is one of the few non-grape wines which yields something that approaches a red grape wine in body, color, tannin.
3. Easy to work with - low in acid and sugar - so your adjustments are only ever additions and you never have to worry about acidulated water, calcium carbonate, etc.
 
I have made elderberry each of the past four years, maybe five, I lose track. It can be almost as good as a grape wine, has wonderful color, nose and the taste is very good, sort of a funky merlot or some other light wine.

One downside to elderberry is the dreaded green goo. Nobody seems to know exactly where it comes from, but vegetable oil is what cuts it.
 
Wow, thanks for the info! I might take a stab sometime. I was just worrying that it'd be really sweet like some other fruit wines
 
I also made an elderberry from homewinery.com concentrate and I really enjoy it for a change of pace wine. I made it slightly off dry. It certainly won't become an every day kind of wine for me but it certainly has a place in the cellar. I read an article (sorry, can't recall the source) that said elderberry wine doesn't reach its full potential for many years, often 10 or more. I doubt mine will reach that age to test the theory.

I also used a bottle of elderberry to try to save a pinot noir that had developed a bit of a funky taste (later discovered it was from one of my plastic carboys). Blended 1 bottle with the 6 gallon batch and it created a very interesting wine.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top