Oak leaf wine recipe anyone?

[burnie]

Berrys been around for a very long time and does seem to be more knowledgeable than most.Another book,I have a few, to look out for is "Home made Country wines,beer,meads and metheglin" recipes collected from farmers weekly.Old fashioned book,but a few out of the ordinary wines to try making.It was compiled by Dorothy Wise for hamlyn,mine is a 1983 copy.What interested me is the recipes from the 1700's which included raisins,don't ask me why,but I thought of raisins as a fairly new thing,clearly not.

[Hilary B]

Berrys been around for a very long time and does seem to be more knowledgeable than most.Another book,I have a few, to look out for is "Home made Country wines,beer,meads and metheglin" recipes collected from farmers weekly.Old fashioned book,but a few out of the ordinary wines to try making.It was compiled by Dorothy Wise for hamlyn,mine is a 1983 copy.What interested me is the recipes from the 1700's which included raisins,don't ask me why,but I thought of raisins as a fairly new thing,clearly not.

I used to have one "easy made wines and country drinks". Had some interesting recipes, but I would tend to adapt these via the advice of CJJB, since they often used the 'wild' yeast, or fresh brewer's yeast added by spreading it on a piece of toast which was floated on the top.
Reisins have been around for a long time. They are only dried grapes, so really have been around pretty much as long as wine.....

[Polly Fouracre]

I've often made oak leaf wine and never once has it tasted of sherry. You get a real difference in taste if you make it with
leaves picked at different times of the year though.
Spring leaves, I think, i.e. May to early June give the best flavour and leaves picked later give a very bitter flavour to the wine.
Having said that, I find that whatever the flavour of home-made wine at the first tasting, it improves further down the bottle. So, never give up at the first glass!!!

[burnie]

Having said that, I find that whatever the flavour of home-made wine at the first tasting, it improves further down the bottle. So, never give up at the first glass!!!

Ah,spoken like a true home brewer,never let the taste get in the way of a good session(though I confess to throwing away a gallon of rosehip many years ago,it was disgusting whatever I did to it.)

[Nelly]

Just for info - that oakleaf wine I made last year turned itself into a sparkling wine. It's been bottled in champagne bottles and tastes WONDERFUL! The meadowsweet was unredeemably vile, had strange things floating in it and probably did great things for cleaning the drains I tipped it down. Strange that the plot of land we've recently bought is overrun with the stuff. Perhaps I'd better plant some oak trees... Fortunately, I've had far more successes than failures in the two years I've been on the brew. Now I've just got to get hold of 70+ wine bottles in order to bottle the 13 gallons of other stuff before the house move...

[Polly Fouracre]

Station yourself at your local bottle bank on Sunday morning and beg wine bottles. Most people give them happily, some give them but obviously think you're mad! And one or two look at you as though you,ve asked them for a tenner and post their bottles into the bank!
Good luck!