Making wine for other people.

[gonzo46307]

I have no problem, making wine for myself, then giving it away to other people. A friend of mine's Mother asked me to make some elderberry wine out of 8 lbs of elderberries she picked. I've never made elderberry wine before, nor have I tasted it, but I couldn't say no.

My plan is to make a 1 gallon batch with the 8 lbs. Ferment it dry & let it sit a couple of months. She lives about 2 1/2 hours away around Indianapolis. Take the batch down to her and sweeten it to her tastes, hell, I can take a bag of sugar and some spring water down there.

I have a feeling she likes sweet wines, so it really shouldn't be a problem as far as taste goes. I'm just a bit apprehensive with making wine for other people.

I guess I'm really not looking for advise, rather "horror" stories, of wine gone bad...for other people.

Yeah, misery loves company. I haven't started this batch yet, but any kind of "warnings" with an elderberry batch, would be most helpful.
Peace,
Bob

 

[Dufresne11]

Your a good person to do that.... this is a great hobby... I find that I enjoy sharing wine almost as much as consuming it myself... it leads to some great conversations...

 

[jtstar]

I am not sure but I think I would do some research I think you will have enough berries for about two and one half gallons of elderberry wine

 

[gonzo46307]

I am not sure but I think I would do some research I think you will have enough berries for about two and one half gallons of elderberry wine

Yeah, I looked at a few recipe's on the net, and it's anywhere from 3lbs to 10lbs per gallon. I'm going to err on the side of caution with the 1 gallon.

Peace,
Bob

 

[Woodbee]

I was asked to make a couple of cases of elderberry for some friends. They really liked my earlier batches and told me to "make it just like that other you made". Well lets just stress Brad out a little. I replicated the batch to the letter. Then when it came to back sweetening I was a little lost.Two years ago I made my syrup from frozen elderberry juice and sugar. I made a gallon of it for two 5 gall batches. I wrote down how much of everything I used. Not a problem. One batch was spiced and the other was a simple elderberry. I added different amounts of syrup to the two batches to get the level that I liked. I used less than half of the gallon I had prepared. And I didn't record exactly how much went into each batch. I did record the SG I ended up with. So here I am with a calculator trying to figure out how much sugar ended up in each batch. I got so confused. So without any elderberry juice for syrup, I took some of the wine and dissolved the sugar in to it. I added to my 5 gal. until I had the same SG I had last time. To me, it was almost too sweet. So I pulled out a bottle that was almost two years old. Boy I was surprised how different the two tasted. I still thought that the new batch was sweeter than the older one. So I bottled up the five and gave it to the neighbors.
We sat down last Sunday morning and opened up a bottle and proceeded to drink it. I kept watching Sues face for here reaction. I could tell that it was not quite up to her expectation. She told me that it wasn't sweet enough. Bummer. I told her to put it away for a year and it would be better.I know darn good and well that it won't last that long. I have another five sitting on the shelf that I was going to bulk age for quite a long time. So I have considered sweetening it more to her liking and trading it out for the other two cases. For some stupid reason I really feel bad that they weren't pleased with what I gave them.
I know that you can't expect to perfectly match batches. But Oh the guilt. So making this stuff for other people can lead to stress and guilt. We give about 80% of our wines to friends. but trying so hard to please them is just silly. I am sure that it stress me more than anyone else. I don't think that I will be making specific batches for anyone in the future.
Brad

 

[gonzo46307]

That's a great story Brad...

Thanks for sharing!

Peace,
Bob

 

[rodo]

Woodbee
You could invite the wine recipient over for a pre botteling tasting. That's what I do with my wife whose tastes don't always mesh with mine. I actually do this several times with her over the course of a couple of months with small adjustments each time.

 

[artyboy]

I'm the same way. Other people's opinions are pretty important to me. I don't really care if they like it or not and I don't take offense when they don't. I just like getting a lot of opinions whether or not the person knows wine or drinks it much.

 

[Woodbee]

I'm the same way. Other people's opinions are pretty important to me. I don't really care if they like it or not and I don't take offense when they don't. I just like getting a lot of opinions whether or not the person knows wine or drinks it much.

You are right there. The lady that received my wine has a pretty keen taste. Her husband on the other hand, thinks that you drink wine half and half with Sprite and ice cubes. I cringe every time I see bubbles raising in his glass.
Brad

 

[ffemt128]

You can easily get 2 gallons with 8 lbs of berries. Might want to consider that. I made 3 gallons with 11 lbs. You won't be disappointed. My recipe I used is in the Fruit Wines section. I'll see if I can dig it out.

 

[ffemt128]

Various recipes in the following posts.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8869

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8630