Floral wines?

[PrincessVintah]

Has anyone used edible flowers in their wines? Other than the dandelion, I mean. I have it in my head that I'd like to do a Rose Petal Chardonnay or perhaps Lavender. I'm thinking I'd use a kit wine, then add the flowers somehow to infuse the flavor/essence into the wine. Just not sure how to go about it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Deezil]

Some of the ladies on the forum (for some reason they beat a bunch of us guys to it, higher on the priority list maybe?) have done some various things with flowers.. Couple guys have too - i havent got around to it myself but im trying!

Careful with lavender, i would think that it could be overpowering. From my understanding, working with flowers is a lot like working with other ingredient layers - some are hard to get to come across (banana for example), while some are hard to keep under control (cloves, etc)

Pretty sure most of the flower additions happen when the wine is racked to a carboy or in bulk aging although i do remember reading a few things about wines like dandelion where they're actually the main ingredient in the ferment..

Depends on what you're aiming for, but a kit would probably make a good base for some experimentation - the most important part i cant stress enough with things like this is take good notes - like "high school chemistry, i need to pass this test to pass the class"-type notes Then you can replicate any successes

 

[corntassel]

I have made a lot of hibuscus wine. I usually make 6 galons every 2 years. I use the dried flowers, mostly the mexican varity. If there is a mexican grocery store in your area they usually have them. A friend of mine uses rose petals with his pear wine. He puts them in the primary fermenter with the pears. Just be careful with some flowers because they can over power the inetial wine. Experimenting is part of the fun of wine making.

 

[Stressbaby]

I have a batch of tropical hibiscus going now. Gorgeous color, but too early to say anything else. I have dried flowers for another 1-2 gallons.

I have a batch of lavender but missed it this spring (our seasons are 3-4 weeks ahead this year). I intend to try it next year.

 

[Neviawen]

I made a lavender/vanilla mead early this spring and I put a small amount of lavender in the primary fermenter and it made the mead smell and taste alot similar to vicks vapor rub... The recipe I had was for 1 gallon of mead that consisted of the usual ingredients, plus 1 cup of lavender flowers which I now think was way too much. That flower I'm thinking would be better off put in as a layered taste, not the main one. It's quick to over power. I've racked the mead a few times now and it's gotten better but still kinda clears my nostrils when I open up the carboy and take a sniff. I have heard a lot of good stuff about hibiscus. You can get the dried version in the spice section at your grocery store. It's also called Sorrel and is a dark redish in color. Good luck!

 

[joeswine]

Flower or herbs?

USUALLY YOU DON'T SEE MANY FLOWERED WINES,BUT DRIED ELDERBERRY FLOWERS OR ELDERBERRIES,I HAVE USED IN MY SAVIGNON BLANC ,and the end result is wonderful,had basil wine and dandelion wine,but not much else,herbs and flowers are tricky to work with ,experiment have a good wine time.

 

[PrincessVintah]

Ooooohhh........basil! That could be wonderful in the right wine! Thanks for all the info, everyone! I think that the experimentation is what I'm looking forward to. Mr. Wonderful, however, is not so enthusiastic. He's a pretty straight forward kinda guy. He's enjoying the experience of winemaking, but he doesn't want to fool around with experimenting. "Follow the kit instructions", y'know?

But I'm thinking that perhaps this next spring I'll plan a batch of something that is away from the norm, and do it on my own. Once he sees (and tastes) the possibilities I'm sure he'll change his mind!

I'm also thinking of doing a jalapeno addition at some point. Not sure what wine that would go well in, but I'm gonna do some research. We have so many peppers in our garden that we can't eat them all. Freezing them now. Any thoughts on this?

 

[joeswine]

Take a look

TAKE THE TIME TO READ SOME OF (WHEN GOOD WINES GONE BAD)SOME GOOD BLENDING ideas,LEARN ABOUT EXTRACTS AND THE FUN OF EXPERIMENTING WITH FLAVOR PACS,