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Inventing a white wine

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  • Inventing a white wine

    I've just been given a load of frozen gooseberries, I have a bag full of rhubarb, 500ml of white grape concentrate, and a small bag of dried elderflowers. I reckon that should make a couple of demijohns of half decent white with the addition of some extra sugar and some tannins?

  • #2
    Yep - sounds like a plan to me. But I reckon you might need quite a bit of sugar - goosegogs are tart little monkeys.

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    • #3
      I'll probably work it as a bag per gallon, less a bit for the grape concentrate? Although the gooseberries were ripe rather than green, so slightly less sharp

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      • #4
        Corr that sounds nice. I love elderflower and that sounds like it could be a very nice combo. In fact I'm salivating at the thought.
        Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better...Albert Einstein

        Blog - @Twotheridge: For The Record - Sowing and Growing with a Virgin Veg Grower: Spring Has Now Sprung...Boing! http://vvgsowingandgrowing2012.blogs....html?spref=tw

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        • #5
          Originally posted by SarzWix View Post
          I'll probably work it as a bag per gallon, less a bit for the grape concentrate? Although the gooseberries were ripe rather than green, so slightly less sharp
          If you have an aldi/lidl, you could bung in a litre of white grape juice, which would lessen the amount of sugar you'd need. A bag per gall sounds like a good benchmark, though.

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          • #6
            That sounds like a lush combination, very tasty.

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            • #7
              I would aim for an SG of no more than 1080 for a white.

              I found this info on wines at home forum - the guys there are pretty full on and hopefully these tips from them will help you out.

              With the elderflowers:

              Dried elderflowers, these are often very harsh and can give a 'cat pee' smell if overused. I have found that just 10 grams of dried flowers added at the start works well, the fermentation process seems to blow off any 'cat pee' smell or harshness. Strain the flowers off through a flour sieve when transferring to d/j for secondary.
              Also, with the Rhubarb:

              Rhubarb previously frozen then thawed in a colander over a pan to extract the juice only, 1 litre of juice per gallon works well. (no added acid)
              Gooseberries:

              You will need pectic enzyme or you will not get it to clear (1/2 tsp per gallon).

              This link might help also:

              Gooseberry Wine

              Sounds like you could make a really tasty wine!
              While wearing your night clothes, plant cucumbers on the 1st May before the sun comes up, and they will not be attacked by bugs.

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              • #8
                Elderflowers, 1 dessertspoon per gallon. Pectic enzyme is already in. Rhubarb is being squished by hand for 3 days, before adding everything else, as per dear old CJJ

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by SarzWix View Post
                  Elderflowers, 1 dessertspoon per gallon. Pectic enzyme is already in. Rhubarb is being squished by hand for 3 days, before adding everything else, as per dear old CJJ
                  Did you freeze the rhubarb? Easier to squish the juice out! I'd add a couple of tsp of strong tea per gall for balance too.

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                  • #10
                    One of the best ways to make rhubarb wine is the dry sugar extraction method. Top and tail your rhubarb, cut it into one inch chunks and freeze it over night. Next day pop in your fermenting bucket and then add the sugar, leave for 24, 36 hours with a lid on, the sugar draws all the juice out of the barb. I made 25 liters last year and I have around 11 or 12 kgs of barb in the freezer as I write which will be in the bucket later today ready to start the next batch.

                    If anyone wants the recipe I post it up later....
                    Non disputat apud stultum est - gradu suo detraham te, et percutiet te usu

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                    • #11
                      That sounds like a good idea - I use the same method when jam making, never thought to use it for wine! Although, if I'm honest, I'm hoping the gooseberries and elderflowers will have more of a 'presence' than the rhubarb

                      This one is being strained into demi-johns today, as the initial ferment has died down a bit (it's in a bucket with an airlock at the moment) and the last bit of syrup/grape concentrate being added.

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