Rose Style 1 – Medium-Dry Red Wine

NB: If you are new to winemaking, it is worth checking out our guide to success.

Ingredients

• 1 Litre White Grape Juice
• 250g Elderberries
• 560g Granulated Sugar
• Sufficient Pectolytic Enzyme
• Gervin No. 9 Yeast
• 2-3g / ½ Teaspoon Yeast Nutrient
• Water to 4.5 Litres
• 100g Sugar For Sweetening

Method

Elderberries provide the essential red colour, but bilberries will do equally if you can get them.  With elderberries you must make sure that the berries are really ripe and have suitable flavour.  I use the 3-test approach to picking berries;

• Look to make sure all the berries on the tree are black.
• Squeeze one or two to make sure the juice is red and not deep orange.
• Eat one or two. The taste should be sweet and not over the top with tannin.

Ferment all the berries for just a couple of days and ferment at 15-17 Degrees Celsius using the No. 9 Yeast.  If the temperature gets above 20 Degrees Celsius the wine will lack the necessary delicate touch and the fruity esters will be lacking.  As usual ferment to dryness and let the wine drop clear.  Add the extra sugar, shaking gently to dissolve it and then stabilise the wine with sulphite and sorbate.