1kg fresh elderberries 210g frozen fresh elderflowers 500g sultanas 1½tsp citric acid 4litres  boiling water 1kg sugar 1 heaped teaspoon pectolase 1tsp yeast nutrient

DAY 1: 29-08-05
I concede this one is a bit of a misnomer! Double Elder in this case means berries and flowers from the same bush, clearly not normally possible but I had a quantity of frozen elderflowers put by from June. Given that both ingredients make good wines independently, I was keen to combine them and sample the result!

The sugar was dissolved in the water which was then brought to the boil. The boiling sugar solution was poured over the flowers, berries and sultanas. The citric acid was stirred in, and the whole lot covered and allowed to cool. A starter bottle was prepared.

DAY 2: 30-08-05
The yeast nutrient and pectolase were added to the cooled mixture along with the reactivated yeast.

DAY 10: 07-09-05
Having stirred the mixture more or less daily, the fruit and other solids were strained off with a fine nylon bag -easily filling a 1 gallon demijohn. Owing the length of time the brew has stood combined with the recent warm weather, bubbling at the airlock was really quite subdued.

WEEK 7: 17-10-05
All activity has ceased. The gravity was measured to be 0.996, indicating fermentation had finished. The brew was a good dark purply red colour, with the unmistakable smell of elderflower. The wine was racked and treated with Kwik Clear. Once topped up with a little cooled boiled water, it left to settle once more.

WEEK 30: 01-04-06
Really rich, dark colour, which survived treatment with a crushed campden tablet, and the addition of a little potassium sorbate. The wine was filtered through the Vin Brite and returned to the demi john to await bottling.   

WEEK 36: 07-05-06
Bottled into green glass

A superb wine. Well worth repeating.