Help with a fruit wine recipe

[Tori webb]

Hello!
So I've been out and picked 1.3kg of elderberries and I have 2kg of plums sliced and deseeded!
I want to make a 25L batch with the two fruits I have.
I also have red grape juice from asda I have 6 bottles and 2 bottles of blueberry.

I was going to boil the fruit in water but I was just stuck on how much to add with the ingredients I have plus a kg or so of sultanas?

I was also going to try and add spice in the form of cracked peppercorns and star anise!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Scooter68]

I'd look up a good recipe before proceeding with any of that. That's over 6 gallons of wine and by weight you have less than enough fruit for 2 gallons.
Bottle sizes and are they concentrate?
As to boiling the fruit - again research before proceeding - find out the best process for the elderberries.
I would NEVER boil plums. Mash and add pectic enzyme to them.

 

[Tori webb]

Hello thanks for you reply!
I can probably pick another kg or more of elderberries and buy more plums. I'm just unsure how much i actually need. The bottles are 1L of pure red grape juice not from concentrate.
I was going to boil the elderberries, thanks for letting me know not to boil the plums!

 

[Scooter68]

Sorry if that sounds like a strong reply about the plums but sometimes we do get folks who have been told some really unusual ideas on making wine. Plums break down pretty well on their own.
Plum flavor is great by the way. Consider making it a stand alone wine some time.
I've not dealt with fresh elderberries so I don't know the best method of getting the most juice from them. Some folks steam berries - just can't give any help on that.
Check Amazon/web for more juices if you want to beef up the flavor.
Red Grapes tend to have a strong flavor and might overpower the plum and blueberry. BUT there are so many recipes for mixed berry wines out there.

 

[Stressbaby]

I always simmer the elderberries. It is supposed to help set the color and personally I think it reduced "green goo."

 

[Scooter68]

I knew some folks with experience would help you.

 

[Tori webb]

No it's what I need! Thank you!

I have a plum wine ready to bottle at the weekend! I've read you can drink it young? so I'm looking forward to that!
I think I'll try and get more elderberries, I found a recipe for elderberry and BlackBerry wine. The recipes called for 5kg of elderberries and 2.5 kg of blackberries. I might jusy swap the blackberries for plums?
Thank you guys!

 

[Rice_Guy]

You have an interesting set of ingredients. That said my favorite wine in 2017 was an elderberry recipe where if it said water I put in concord grape juice. The thinking foxy gives interesting aromatics and elderberry long tannic notes.
Peppercorns can be a wild ride if overdone. That said there is nothing to keep you from adding more after racking and deciding there wasn’t enough, or even extracting some in everclear and doing dosage bench trials on the finished wine.
Did not, have not cooked the elderberry, unless trying flavor combinations in a pie. My feeling is that the color is not too stable in the freezer already, so why add more breakdown.

 

[Scooter68]

Sounds like you've done a couple of wine batches at least.

Maybe put the peppercorns in a small mesh bag so you can scoop them out if the flavor starts getting a bit on the strong side.

If you haven't made a blackberry wine they can be excellent. And Black Raspberry wine is also a great one.

Good luck on whichever way you go.

 

[Vinobeau]

Scooter & I disagree, at times, on the amount of fruit to use per gallon of wine; but even by my method, you're way under. IMO, you should not make a Plum, Elderberry, Grape, Blueberry wine. Make a gallon or two of each, then in a year invite a few friends over, taste the wines, blend the samples, sweeten them, and continue tasting. Then do a final blend and bottle. You have much more control over the final product.
Personally, I would never boil the fruit and water together. I usually add boiling water to the fruit & sugar, mainly to dissolve the sugar. Freezing the fruit provides a better way to extract flavors, etc from the fruit prior to fermentation.

 

[salcoco]

https://winemaking.jackkeller.net/index.asp this is a good website to visit for beginners and recipes