Winemaking with Elderberries (Sambucus Nigra)

**lockwood1956** · 06-04-2007, 09:44 PM

CORDIALS
recipes 106 and 107

(106)
Ingredients
1.14 litre (1 Quart) Elderberry juice
453 g (1lb) sugar
7g (1/4 oz) cloves
7g (1/4 oz) cinnamon
2 nutmegs
1/4 bottle, 199 ml. (7 fl oz) brandy

method
Gradually stir in the sugar whilst heating up the juice, and skim off the scum after boiling point has been reached; add the cloves, cinnamon and grated nutmeg, and keep at simmering point for half an hour. Cover and leave to cool. Funnel the brandy into a quart bottle, add the juice (which will have decreased in volume whilst simmering) to fill the bottle and stopper securely

(107)
Ingredients
453 g (1lb) Elderberries
28 g (1 oz) cloves
28 g (1 oz) root ginger
1 kg (2.2 lb) sugar
1/2 tsp malic acid
1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1 -3 3mg Benerva
1 tablet yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp ammonium phosphate
1/2 tsp yeast energiser
yeast starter
water to 4.55 litre (1 imp gallon)

method
This is the same as for the aperitif, table and social wines previously described - method A. The spices in the recipe can be changed to produce a range of alcoholic cordials such as have been produced in England since Anglo-Saxon times. Some alternatives are Aniseed, Cinnamon, Lovage and Peppermint

**lockwood1956** · 06-04-2007, 09:45 PM

WINE COCKTAILS
Recipes 108 to 110

(108)
Ingredients
Wine No 68
1 cube sugar
Angostura bitters
lemon peel

method
Put the lump of sugar into a cocktail glass (capacity 85 ml - 3 fl oz) and soak it with Angostura bitters. Add three squeezes of lemon juice. Top up with the ice cold wine, and garnish with small piece of lemon peel (no pith)

(109)
Ingredients
wine No 64
1 orange
orange peel
wine No 66

method
put equal parts of the wine into a cocktail glass (capacity 28ml. - 1 fl oz) each, add the juice from the orange, and garnish with a piece of the orange peel (no pith)

(110)
Ingredients
Wine No 70
orange bitters

method
Three parts fill the cocktail glass with the wine, and add a couple of dashes of the orange bitters.

**lockwood1956** · 06-04-2007, 09:45 PM

VERMOUTH
Recipe 111

These drinks are made from wine of about 17% alcoholic content by volume (30 deg proof) which have had the essence of herbs added; wormwood, a bitter herb, is usually the basic additive, and the other herbs used modify this bitterness and provide other distinctive characteristics; angelica and gentian are well known in this respect. Other wine aperitifs make use of cinnamon, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, Orange and orris root in the same manner.
French and Italian vermouth flavourings are available from home wine making stores, and should be used according to the instructions provided.
Fluid extracts of many herbs are available from health food shops, and provide scope (see above) for experimentation. Wormwood angelica and gentian are useful in this category.If fresh or dried herbs, and/or spices, they are contained in a nylon bag and immersed in the wine until the desired degree of flavour has been obtained. A wine which has disappointed so far as flavour is concerned, can provide the basis for these herb and spice additives. A good purpose made basic wine recipe is as given hereunder, and is made in accordance with the Dessert wine Method C

(111)
Ingredients
907g black-violet Elderberries or green (ripe) Elderberries(2lb)
710 ml. red grape concentrate or white grape concentrate (25 fl oz.)
795 g sugar (1 3/4 lb)
6g dried Elderflowers
1 tsp malic acid
1 tsp tartaric acid
1 - 3mg Benerva tablet
1 Tablet yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp Ammonium Phosphate
1/2 tsp Yeast Energiser
Yeast Starter
water to 4.55 litres (1 imp gallon)

**lockwood1956** · 06-04-2007, 09:45 PM

LIQUEURS
Recipes 112 and 113

Liqueurs are normally served in small glasses of about 85 ml. (3 fl oz) capacity, into which about 57 ml. (2 fl oz) are poured. The reaction to a taste of a particular liqueur is usually either favourable or unfavourable - there is little room for indifference. For this reason, and because of the cost involved, we will use 241 ml. (8.5 fl oz) screw top bottles for our production line. Each bottle will thus provide a drink each for four people. These mixer drink bottles can be made quite attractive in appearance with the aid of different coloured enamels applied to the screw tops in conjunction with suitable labels. We're not trying to produce commercial liqueurs here, although similarities must occur when home wine making liqueur flavourings are used, except that we will not be using a neutral flavoured wine, which will give added interest to the finished product. Commercial liqueurs vary in strength, but an alcoholic content of 50 deg proof (28.5% by volume) is a fair average, and should win general approval, and a chance of maintaining sobriety, if needful or added ability to enjoy more drinks. The wine given hereunder, which will ferment out to an alcoholic content of 30 deg proof (17% by volume) will be used for all our liqueurs. Vodka at 70 deg proof will provide the additional alcohol requirement. Eight saccharin (sweet ex) pellets per bottle will provide the anticipated degree of sweetness. The final ingredient is the flavouring, which will not amount to more than a small part of the remaining space in the bottle, leaving room for shaking.
Hence our liqueur formulation is:

(112)
114 ml. vodka 70 deg proof (4 fl oz)
114 ml. wine 30 deg proof (4 fl oz)
8 saccharin (sweet ex) pellets
flavouring essence

Our wine will be produced in accordance with the Dessert wine Method C, ignoring all references to the "other Fruit"

(113)
Ingredients
1.36 kg black-violet Elderberries or green (ripe) Elderberries (3lb)
907 g bananas (2 lb)
795 ml. red grape concentrate or white grape concentrate (28 fl oz.)
625 g sugar (22 oz)
2 tsp malic acid
2 tsp tartaric acid
1 - 3mg Benerva tablet
1 tsp tannin (for green elderberries only)
1 Tablet yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp Ammonium Phosphate
1/2 tsp Yeast Energiser
Yeast Starter
water to 4.55 litres (1 imp gallon)

Some flavouring essences available from home wine making stores are: ananas, anise, apricot brandy, cacao, cherry brandy, cichona, coffee rum, curacao, creme de menthe, danzig, dictine, green convent, Green mint, grenadine, honey smoke, kernel, kummel, mandarine, maraschino, mirabelle, orange, peach brandy, prunelle, ratafia, reverendine; they are usually added by drops, and in such case an eye dropper comes in useful. From supermarkets, flavouring essences such as Almond, brandy, chocolate, coffee, peppermint and rum are readily available. Your taste buds will probably appreciate one teaspoonful per bottle, but brandy flavours may well run to a full two teaspoonfuls.

**lockwood1956** · 06-04-2007, 09:46 PM

BONUS WINES
Recipes 114 and 115

The before given formulations contain from 453 to 1360 g (1 to 3 lb) of elderberries per 4.55 litre (1 imp gallon) of wine. The value of the elderberries for wine making will in no way be exhausted after one extraction. It is fully practicable to make three separate 4.55 litres (gallons) of wine from 1.36 kg (3 lbs) of elderberries by means of a second and then a third use of the same batch of fruit

(114)
Ingredients
1.36Kg Elderberries, second extraction (3 lb)
710 ml. Red grape concentrate (25 fl oz)
570 g sugar (1 1/4 lb)
1 tsp malic acid
1 tsp tartaric acid
1 - 3mg Benerva tablet
1 Tablet yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp Ammonium Phosphate
1/2 tsp Yeast Energiser
Yeast Starter
water to 4.55 litres (1 imp gallon)

method
As Method A, ignoring all mention of "other fruit"

(115)
Ingredients
Ingredients
1.36Kg Elderberries, third extraction (3 lb)
795 g sugar (1 3/4 lb)
1/2 tsp malic acid
1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1 - 3mg Benerva tablet
1 Tablet yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp Ammonium Phosphate
1/2 tsp Yeast Energiser
Yeast Starter
water to 4.55 litres (1 imp gallon)
1 tsp pectozyme

method
As Method D, ignoring all mention of "other Fruit"

**lockwood1956** · 11-04-2007, 08:32 AM

Classification and Cultivation

The Caprifoliaceae or Honeysuckle family did well to produce an offspring called Sambucus, or the Elder, and in particular the Sambucus nigra (having black-violet berries) and the Sambucus nigra virescens (having green berries), which can be made into the whole gamut of quality wines. In common with the grape, different varieties of elder produce various types of wine, and these varieties will now be described:

Sambucus nigra - the elder, common elder, mealy tree, or whitewood, is a deciduous shrub or tree which is native to England, and was introduced to Ireland southern Scotland and Wales. It grows in woods, waste places and hedges. A fertile, fresh to damp, chalky soil is favourable to good growth, especially if the tree is also in a sunny place, but the elder will withstand some shade and a poor-ish soil. It is an irregularly branched shrub or tree; will grow to a height of 9 metres in favourable circumstances. The crooked stem and branches have a core of white pith; the fissured bark is pale brown, Corky and fragile. In winter the twigs are grey-green in colour, with pairs of reddish buds along them. The rather dull yellow-green or dark green leaves are about 15 cm long, are composed of a number of distinct segments or leaflets which succeed each other along the mid rib, usually 5 to 7 in number, each being broad, tapered to a point at either end, regularly and sharply toothed, almost smooth, the underside covered with grey hairs; each about 3 cm across and 7 cm long. The flowers are white or cream coloured, each about 5 mm across, and appear in much branched flat topped, disk like clusters, sometimes containing 200 blooms, and each about 16 cm across.

The fruits are shiny, black-violet colour when ripe, passing from pale green through crimson, and are about 5 mm in diameter; each contains 2 or 3 flattened stones. Sucker shoots emerge from the base of the shrub in some profusion. If you see leaves opening from the buds of a tree in January, you are most likely examining and elder, which is the earliest shrub thus to remind us that spring is coming. The whole tree has a narcotic and unpleasant smell; the flowers have a bitter scent; they contain a volatile oil, tannins, gum, glycoside, choline, and vitamins. The flowers are harvested in May, June and July; They bloom from the outside of the cluster in-wards, and should be picked for Winemaking when the inner ones have are full blown. They must be collected with care to avoid bruising, otherwise they will turn black when being dried; they can, of course be used fresh. Avoid heaping the flowers for the journey home as they will heat up and again be spoilt for drying purposes. The forenoon or evening of a dry day is the best time for harvesting.
The leaves are also used fresh or dried and are collected in the two months of June and July. The berries ripen in September and October. They are best picked in the bunch and can be separated from the stalks by means of a dinner fork. he root is dug up in October.

Sambucus nigra virescens can be recognised by it's white bark, and the fruits are pale green to straw coloured when fully ripe, with green , gooseberry like stripes; the stones can be seen through the skin.
There are other varieties of the Black-violet berried Sambucus nigra, and this offers a choice of either garnering the berries without regards to their type (which is quite satisfactory when they are being used with other fruit), or keeping the harvest from each tree or Bush separate, and having a connoisseur's selection of wines. These varieties can be recognised as follows:

Sambucus nigra albovariegate (marginata or argenteomarginata) has leaflets with an irregular, creamy-white edge

Sambucus nigra aurea has golden-yellow leaflets which darken in the autumn

Sambucus nigra aureomarginata has an irregular bright yellow leaf margin

Sambucus nigra heterophylla (linearis) has variable-form leaflets

Sambucus nigra Laciniata has finely divided leaflets reminiscent of the fern and parsley

Sambucus nigra pulverulenta has leaflets mottled and striped white

Sambucus nigra purpurea has leaflets flushed purple

Sambucus nigra rotundifolia has round leaflets

Sambucus nigra pyramidalis is recognised by the inverted pyramid, erect shape of the tree

Sambucus nigra plena has double flowers

There is also another variety of Sambucus nigra which is suitable for white wines:

Sambucus nigra fructuluteo whose fruits are yellow, and which is more common than the green variety, although my own white Winemaking has been with the rarer type, since I had ready access to a very prolific specimen near our former home.

There are various species of Elderberry in the United States of America, for it is a very popular Winemaking fruit there, and grown on a large scale commercially. Some of these are to be found in Britain. The parent variety, the American or sweet elder, is:

Sambucus canadensis, which has purple-black fruit, grows into a large tree, has 5 to 11 but usually 7 leaflets per leaf, and White flowers in convex heads, 13 to 20 cm (5 to 8 in ) across, which bloom in July.

Others in the family are:

Sambucus canadensis maxima, which can be recognised by the rosy-purple flower stalks carrying flower heads 30 cm. (12 in) across, the leaves are up to 45 cm (18 in) long.

Sambucus canadensis sub-mollis has grey-ish leaflets having soft down on their underside.

Sambucus canadensis caerlea has blue fruit with white bloom on it

There are several varieties of red and scarlet fruited elderberries which have not found popularity in the Winemaking world, and need not be discussed here, since the colour of the fruit makes them readily recognisable.

However there is one variety of the elder which is unsafe for Winemaking, and a description of this is essential:

Sambucus ebulus, dwarf or ground elder, or Danewort, grows on waste ground having stout, grooved annual stems which grow to about one metre (3 ft) in height. The leaves encompass 9 to 13 leaflets. The pinkish white flowers grow in groups of three, blossoming in July and August, and their flattened hairy heads are about 9 cm (3 1/2 in) across. The fruit is black, unfortunately similar to Sambucus nigra, but fortunately this strongly purgative promoter of the secretion and flow of urine does not regularly come to fruition, whereas the Sambucus nigra is very bounteous.

There are several local names for our native Sambucus nigra, and these can be of assistance when making enquiries in unfamiliar county districts:

Bourtree, Boretree or Bottary; Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lake District, County Durham, Northumberland, Southern Scotland, Northern Ireland.

Borral: Northumberland, Southern Scotland

Bulltree: Cumbria

Devils wood: Derbyshire

Dogtree: Yorkshire

Eller: Sussex, Kent, Norfolk, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, Northern England

Gods stinking tree: Dorset

Judas-Tree: Kent

Scaw: Cornwall

Teatree: Somerset

Trammon : Isle of Man

If you have a garden, however small, you can grow your own elderberries, even if this means planting a bush in a hedge> Elders are not fussy in their growing requirements.

It is suggested that, to be sure of producing single fruit wine to your taste, berries from different trees and bushes should be harvested taking careful note of the source of each batch of berries, then when the wines have been sampled you will be in a position to take a cutting from the tree or bush of your choice. The differences in taste may not be marked but "if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well", and it is to be hoped that you will have many years of drinking your home grown and home made wine ahead of you. Some Elderflowers do not have the pleasant bouquet required for Winemaking, so some exploration on this account is advisable.

Seeds of the elder are available from nurserymen, but they are not produced for their Winemaking value, and it is far better to take the cuttings from a favoured Winemaking tree or bush.

The cuttings are taken either from young shoots in July/August or from the ripened current years growth in the Autumn, the cut being made with a secateur just below a leaf node, to give a length of about 30 cm (12 in) for planting. The cut end is then dipped in rooting hormone and the cutting buried about 15 cm ( 6 in) deep. Fruit may be produced as early as the second year. Incidentally, it has been found that the best berries are carried on wood which is one year old, which indicates that pruning to bush form rather than tree form is advantageous. Particularly as sucker grow readily; but if you do not bother to prune, you can still expect a bounteous crop from the elder. The elder will grow in dry soil, but moist and fertile ground produces the most luscious berries; it is a good competitor for the available food in the soil.

The flowers harvested from your own garden can be collected quite easily without detriment to the succeeding fruit, since a close watch can be kept to catch them when full blown, and not before. The method then is to hold a container positioned to catch the petals as they are lightly brushed off the flower heads with the flat of the hand.

There is again an advantage when gathering garden grown berries, since it is again readily practicable to choose the best time for harvesting them - fully ripe fruit makes by far the best wine. the berries are not quite ready when they have all turned black-violet in colour, - they are not ripe until they are soft and easily squashed by the fingers; this last applies also to the green variety, our Sambucus nigra virescens. Secateurs or scissors are invaluable in gently cutting of the bunches of fruit, otherwise they may fall to the ground before reaching your container; if being gathered from the wild, a porous container is essential for the journey home, in order to avoid the development of mold on the berries; in any case, Winemaking should commence without delay after the harvesting. A kitchen fork is best for separating the berries from their stalks.