Dandelion And Blackberry Wine
- 2 quarts dandelions petals
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
- 2 lbs finely granulated sugar
- 1 large lemon
- 1 large orange
- 5-1/2 pts water
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1 crushed Campden tablet
- 1/4 tsp tannin
- wine yeast
Pick dandelion and remove and save only the petals, discarding the remainder. Put water on to boil. While water is heating, thinly peel the lemon and orange. Remove and discard pith from the lemon and orange and slice their fruit thinly. Put lemon and orange slices, peelings, flower petals, and blackberries in nylon straining bag, tie closed and put in primary. Add sugar to primary and pour boiling water over straining bag. Stir well to thoroughly dissolve sugar. Cover primary and set aside to cool. When room temperature, stir in tannin, yeast nutrient and activated wine yeast. Recover primary. Squeeze bag daily to liberate flavors and then stir liquid. After 5th day, drip drain bag over primary, squeezing gently, and discard petals and fruit pulp. Dissolve crushed Campden tablet in 1/2 cup warm water and stir into primary. Recover and ferment to specific gravity of 1.010 (14-21 days). Rack into secondary and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 30 days for 90 days. After racking, stabilize, allow to settle 2 weeks, and rack into bottles. Allow to age at least one year. [Author’s own recipe]