Elderberry and tannins

thanks Luc, Do you think there are softer tannins in the juice than in the skin, or just more in the skin? I am wondering if I should up the fruit quantity as juice only.. I have checked your blog, which reminded me of the hedgerow wine I used to make, 2 parts elderberry to 1 part other fruit and think I might add other hedgerow fruit to the mix. I have seen recipies that include rice or barley with elderberry (H.E. Bravery), have you tried this? Wondering if the starch in the grain has an effect on the tannin levels? Denis

Luc, A few years ago I made a hedgerow fruit which i pulp fermented for 7 days, that dark elderberry tannin never softened!

I am intending to produce a dry fruity medium bodied wine, so may lower the elderberry content and increase other fruit

Denis

Oh for the patience (or well enough stocked cellar) to leave wines for

Today I went for a journey round the local area and found sloes, damsons and greengages a plenty, so a blend it is. As long as I have enough honey I will have a play with a slow maturing elder..

Denis

I've made several batches of elderberry melomel over the years and it takes several years for them to mellow out. Elderberry wine, using sugar instead of honey, matures much quicker although ageing always improves the taste.

I agree with the freeze/thaw suggestion made by another poster. I generally freeze all my fruit, other than grapes.

Paul

I have made an elderberry and grape wine using (IIRC - it was about 8 years ago) about a couple of pounds of elder and about 4 or so of grape to make a couple of gallons of wine. It did seem more mellow than the normal elderberry wine and was certainly drinkable after a year.

The best wine I ever made was a straight elderberry wine - but I did leave it to mature for at least 4 years. Actually I forgot about it and discovered it in the back of a cupboard when we had a tidy up. It was gorgeous.

What sort of grapes do you use? When I moved to my current place, there were only Concord grapes. I've found that a blend of 20% elderberry and 80% Concord is a good combination when aged out a few years. The elderberries add depth to the fruity, foxey Concords.

The Marechal Foch vines I planted started bearing a couple of years ago and I've begun experimenting with Foch/Concord blends.

Paul

I have no idea, these were from a friend's garden and were a touch over ripe. It was a case of make wine now or top up the compost heap.