This vintner’s best elderberry wine recipe is straightforward. All that’s necessary for success is a 5 gallon carboy and yeast.
Step 1
To create the base for your wine, start with distilled water as your beverage base. It will help decrease acidity levels and prevent it from fermenting into an unpleasant tart flavor as your fermentation progresses.
Step 2
Before back sweetening or bottling your wine, add Potassium Sorbate as an important addition. This additive must be added together with sulfites in order to avoid off flavors in your final product.
Fermentation
Fermentation converts pyruvic acid, found in plant and animal sugars, into ethanol and other byproducts used for alcohol and carbonated beverage production. Winemakers employ various microbes such as yeast and bacteria to convert grape pyruvic acid into alcohol; dry sparkling wines are usually created using yeast while lighter-bodied wines come from bacteria fermentation processes.
First step to elderberry wine production is collecting ripe elderberries. Harvest season runs from July to early October, with any single bush being examined carefully to pick only those clusters which have fully ripened berries, with several dark raisins, or “berries”, in them; these indicate they will make an attractive wine when aged.
Once harvested, berries must be immersed in cold water to extract their juice. Once this process is completed, solids are separated from liquid and crushed using either a potato masher, your clean feet or an extremely sturdy rolling pin in a five-gallon bucket containing water. Any seeds with bitter substances should also be removed as these will interfere with winemaking processes and the final product.
Crushed fruit is combined with pectic enzyme and allowed to ferment in either a crock or large kettle, taking care not to over-process the fruits with food processors or blenders as this may release too much bitterness from seeds and skins into the wine. Professional winemakers usually utilize presses; however, manual squeezes by clean hands also work just as effectively provided the berries don’t become overcooked which would result in harsh and unpleasant flavors in the end product.
Step two is adding sugar and yeast. If this is your first time home winemaking, start off right by choosing high-quality yeast that has been properly hydrated – for those just getting started using Vintner’s Best Wine Fruit Base kit includes everything needed such as yeast, potassium sorbate, and potassium metabisulfite!
Fermentation requires careful monitoring and stirring several times every week; any sudden spikes in temperature will be difficult to bring back down, potentially producing weak or underripe wine.
Tannin management has proven a difficult challenge for this wine, yet it appears to be becoming easier with every batch produced using this vintner’s best elderberry wine recipe. Hopefully future batches will become more manageable!
This wine makes an excellent match with smoked meats and cheeses and should be allowed to age for at least a year in order to develop its full potential and develop its unique smoky/balanced flavour reminiscent of Mourvedre and Petit Verdot wines.
