Receipe for Lavender Wine?

[Dixie]

Does anyone have a recipe for Lavender Wine please, I've got sooooooo much lavender in the garden I just wondered if wine was a possibility 

[trojanrabbit]

I see no reason why it shouldn't work - I've had heather flower liqueur before, which was fab! If you have a reliable recipe for another type of herb wine, I'd be tempted to just try modifying it for a small batch and see what happens.
Taking an educated guess here, the key thing is probably that you need alcohol present to disolve the lavender oil which carries the scent, otherwise it will either not be extracted, or mostly sit on the surface.

Alternatively Google did find one or two; top of their list is http://www.harvington.org.uk/hic/lavenderwine.html which looks vaguely convincing.

I had a similar problem with lemon balm on the allotment, so there's a demijohn of that fizzing merrily at the moment.

[Dixie]

vaguely convincing is good enough for me, thank you 

[PurpleHeather]

My book says that herbs can be used as flavours for other wines but do not make successful wines on their own.

My granny used to dry her lavender flowers, scrape them off the stalks and sew them into little cloth bags and place the bags in with clothes and linen. Or loop them on to coat hangers, the scent would last all year. The little bags could then be emptied washed and refilled. The lavender helped ward off moths.

Ecologically sound idea, it uses up scraps of material like old linen tea cloths. Gives the idle hands something to do sewing little squares together. If you can't sew, iron on hemming web would do just as well.

I am told lavender aids sleep and stops snoring, so little pillows can be made from it to place under the main pillow.

Just an idea for you

[fluffygrue]

Lavender wine was one of our big hits last year - we gave lots of bottles to family as Christmas presents, and they were asking for more, so definitely go for it.

We took one 5 gallon plastic winemaking drum thing.. Chopped a mix of lavender flowers into a jug.. I can't quite remember the quantities, I'm afraid, but we used something like 3 or 4 pints of flowers plus a smidgen of leftover elderflowers. Chucked in the flowers. Chucked in some sugar, water, yeast, wait. Bottling the stuff did involve some straining, but it was really, really good stuff.

Sadly we didn't get around to it this year as we were really busy when lavender was at its peak.. but definitely, go for it. Have a Google and I'm sure you'll find some recipes with proper quantities.

[Baccy Man]

Here is the recipe I use

LAVENDER WINE
1 to 1-1/2 pints lavender flowers
2 lb granulated sugar
10.5 oz can of white grape juice concentrate
1/2 tsp citric acid
1/8 tsp tannin powder
7-1/2 pts water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Champagne yeast

Boil 1/2 gal water and add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Stir in grape concentrate and return to boil. Immediately pour boiling water over all dry ingredients except yeast in primary. When water cools to lukewarm, add remaining water and sprinkle yeast on top. Cover with cloth and ferment 7 days. Strain out flowers and transfer liquid to secondary. Fit airlock. Ferment 60 days and rack, top up, refit airlock, and allow to sit another 60 days. Rack into bottles and allow to age one year.

[jeffreyfrog]

There are many varieties of lavender, plants of the genus Lavandula  -- especially Lavandula officinalis. They all contain clusters of small, fragrant, purplish flowers. The small flowers must be picked off the stems to make the wine. Flowers can be picked and frozen in ZipLoc bags for later use. This wine is not only delicious, but its bouquet will be appreciated as soon as you open a bottle.

LAVENDER WINE

    * 1 to 1-1/2 pints lavender flowers
    * 2 lb granulated sugar
    * 10.5 oz can of Welch's 100% white grape juice frozen concentrate
    * 1/2 tsp citric acid
    * 1/8 tsp tannin powder
    * 7-1/2 pts water
    * 1 tsp yeast nutrient
    * Champagne yeast

Boil 1/2 gal water and add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Stir in frozen grape concentrate and return to boil. Immediately pour boiling water over all dry ingredients except yeast in primary. When water cools to lukewarm, add remaining water and sprinkle yeast on top. Cover with cloth and ferment 7 days. Strain out flowers and transfer liquid to secondary. Fit airlock. Ferment 60 days and rack, top up, refit airlock, and allow to sit another 60 days. Rack into bottles and allow to age one year.



wine bags