2kg white sugar 2 tsp nutrient ½ tsp tannin 4 thinly sliced lemons 8 litres boiling water 1 litre carton Sainsburys pure red grape juice Wild rose petals: 2 litres white, 4 litres red, 4 litres pink

Having collected rather too many petals (and not wishing to have incurred lacerated arms, a liberal nettling and getting soaked to the skin in the process for nothing) a double (two gallon) batch was prepared rather than discarding the excess ingredients.

DAY 1: 19-06-04
The sugar, tannin,  water and fruit juice were brought to the boil (in two batches) and poured onto the fruit, yeast nutrient and petals. Once well mixed the bucket was tightly covered and allowed to cool. A starter bottle was prepared.

DAY 2: 20-06-04
The contents of the starter bottle were added to the petal mix and well stirred. The bucket was partially covered and left for fermentation to get underway. (N.B. Unusually the yeast has been added to the whole ingredients rather than my usual method of adding only to the strained liquor.)

DAY 7: 26-06-04
Having stirred the brew twice daily for the past week, the solids were strained out and the pleasant rosé coloured liquid transferred to a pair of demijohns. After an encouraging initial fermentation the stream of bubbles was now barely perceptible.

WEEK 10: 28-08-04
The gravity was measured to be 0.990, indicating fermentation had completed successfully. The clarity was of the rose coloured wine (appropriately enough!) was quite good, if a little hazy. The wine was racked and treated with Ritchie Kwik Clear. The demi johns were topped up to the neck with cooled boiled water and returned to storage to clear further.

WEEK 23: 28-11-04
The wine had further cleared, leaving a small sediment. The brew was racked onto a crushed campden tablet (which sadly robbed it of much of it's excellent colour) and ½ tsp potassium sorbate. The wine was passed through the VinBrite filter fitted with a Crystalbrite pad. The now brilliantly clear wine was sealed with a safety stopper and stored to await bottling.

WEEK 25: 13-12-04
Half the wine was bottled into green glass. One demijohn was at room temperature (21^oC) in the heated thermostatic wine cupboard, the other was chilled in the loft (at around 5^oC). The cold bottle was quite hazy, where as the warm bottle was crystal clear! The clear bottle was chosen for bottling. Time will tell if the haze is temperature related, like the Barley Wine of Dec '01 or whether it's just gone off.

The flavour was unusual, and not especially floral. Hopefully the wine will improve over the next several months.

WEEK 52: 23-06-05
Remaining gallon bottled into green glass.


Sept '05: Making a large batch has meant that at least some of the consignment has lasted well over 12 months, improving greatly as it's progressed. At 15 months it's really quite good! 

Red, pink and white petals