Seeing as everyone is talking about elderberry wine, I thought I'd post my Spiced Elderberry wine recipe - its extremely good, but as with all elderberry wines needs at least a year to age before it loses its harshness. Its half-way between a port and a very fruity wine, and is very good at Christmas/New Year festivities!
Spiced Elderberry Wine
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2 pounds elderberries, stripped from the stalks
2 1/2 pounds sugar
1.25 gallons water
1 lemon
1 orange
1-inch lump root ginger
2-inch cinnamon stick
5 cloves
yeast, demijohns, brewing stuff etc etc
Boil the berries, water, spices and chopped cirtus fruit together for 20-30 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the sugar, stirring well. When all the sugar is dissolved, strain off the liquid and leave to cool to body heat.
Proceed as for any wine recipe. (i.e Add yeast, put in demijohns, wait until fermentation finishes, rack into new demijohns, leave to settle for 1-2 weeks, add campden etc etc, then bottle). Leave to mature in bottles for at least 1 year! Best after 2-3 years...
Further recipes etc if anyone wants...