# Thoughts on hazelnut wine please.



## BigDaveK (May 3, 2022)

I have Keller's recipe for hazelnut mead and was thinking about using the procedure for wine. My thought was to make a vanilla wine as the base for the hazelnut. What else might it pair well with?

My harvest increases each year as my bush gets bigger. Last year I had 8 pounds so I can do some playing.


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## Rice_Guy (May 3, 2022)

one background note, nuts as a family normally contain 30 to 35% oils and fats, all nut based foods have to work around the fat.
If the recipe works you should be able to transfer from one nut to another successfully.


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## FlamingoEmporium (May 3, 2022)

Oooh ! That one sounds good. 
maybe pair with cherry.


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## Raptor99 (Jun 30, 2022)

My hazelnut trees are loaded this year, so I want to begin thinking about hazelnut wine and mead. Has anyone done this or done a similar nut wine? I'm thinking hazelnut/chocolate, which is a classic combination. I found a hazelnut/vanilla mead recipe here: vanilla ideas?????, but it uses extracts. I would like to add the actual hazelnuts and vanilla bean to my wine/mead.

There is a discussion on the issue of oils in nuts here: Oils on dried fruit Like many of our discussions, it starts out on oil on dried fruit, and shifts to include oil in nuts.

One question I have is how to prepare the nuts. Fresh or dried? Roasted or non-roasted? I appreciate input from anyone who has made nut wine/mead.


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## BigDaveK (Jun 30, 2022)

Raptor99 said:


> My hazelnut trees are loaded this year, so I want to begin thinking about hazelnut wine and mead. Has anyone done this or done a similar nut wine? I'm thinking hazelnut/chocolate, which is a classic combination. I found a hazelnut/vanilla mead recipe here: vanilla ideas?????, but it uses extracts. I would like to add the actual hazelnuts and vanilla bean to my wine/mead.
> 
> There is a discussion on the issue of oils in nuts here: Oils on dried fruit Like many of our discussions, it starts out on oil on dried fruit, and shifts to include oil in nuts.
> 
> One question I have is how to prepare the nuts. Fresh or dried? Roasted or non-roasted? I appreciate input from anyone who has made nut wine/mead.


My hazelnut is loaded as well. Can't wait!
I haven't made any nut wines/mead yet but they're on the list.
There are a few low fat nuts that are fine for wine and darned if I can remember them right now.
Keller has a recipe for hazelnut mead that uses 20 oz of "dried/cracked" hazelnuts that he puts into secondary. If I can't find anything else I'll use his as a basis.


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## winemaker81 (Jul 1, 2022)

I looked at Keller's recipe -- it's basically "make a wine then macerate dried hazelnuts". I'm a bit iffy on his method, but the general idea sounds good.

If I had a boatload of hazelnuts? I'd roast them lightly, cool, then grind. Next I'd macerate in a variety of liquids to see what I like best. What would I try?

mead
white wine
red wine
vodka
brandy/cognac
EverClear
After maceration, I'd dilute the vodka, brandy/cognac, and EverClear down to 60 proof with sugar syrup -- it should make a nice liqueur.

The mead and wine? I'd go high ABV and make a dessert wine from it. I have a crazy idea that it would make a tasty port-style red.

Or marry the two ideas? Macerate in EverClear, then use that to spike a table wine up to 20% ABV, making a port.


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## BigDaveK (Jul 1, 2022)

winemaker81 said:


> I looked at Keller's recipe -- it's basically "make a wine then macerate dried hazelnuts". I'm a bit iffy on his method, but the general idea sounds good.
> 
> If I had a boatload of hazelnuts? I'd roast them lightly, cool, then grind. Next I'd macerate in a variety of liquids to see what I like best. What would I try?
> 
> ...


Good thoughts!
Two years ago I made hazelnut extract with 100 proof vodka that was really good. Most of the the extract then went to making a liqueur that was really REALLY good!! I'm going to play with wine but I'm definitely making more liqueur this year.


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## Snafflebit (Jul 1, 2022)

Yeah I’m trying to understand how hazelnut, or any nut works in a wine. Nuts are primarily fat and protein so I think a process like fatwashing will infuse alcohol with flavor. I recall a few years back when flavored vodka was the fad and of course everything was tried to infuse vodka. Some were disasters, like smoked salmon but bacon kind of worked. Fatwashing was the technique used for meats.


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