Early elderflower wine taste

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I did and elderflower wine back in June, my first ever wine!
It was done the usual way and ended up at about 10.5% and chucked in a demijohn after 3 weeks and left until it was crystal clear and bottled in early august. Ended up with 6 full bottles and a 500ml pet bottle that was nearly full.
I couldn't help myself, cracked open the pet bottle to have a taste at how a young elderflower wine tastes..

Disappointed

It's very good on the nose, loads of elderflower smell, but the initial taste is a bit weak and watery with a vegetable after taste.
Yes I know, it's only a couple of months old... But will it improve significantly over time, or is it always going to be a bit "thin"?
 
If no grape juice or raisins were included, then it would be rather thin. If only citric acid (or lemon juice) was used, then the flavour would be bland because citric acid gets used up during fermentation. The vegetable taste may be due to too many bits of stem included with the flowers, but a dry elderflower wine is slightly bitter anyway, and can be made more palatable if slightly sweetened. A young white wine tends to be harsh and improves after a few weeks.
 
I made a gallon of elderflower wine about four to five years ago according to a CJJ Berry recipe.

It got racked to a clean DJ after fermentation and then I kind of forgot about it. Came to light when we moved earlier this year and I bottled it about a month ago.

With no shadow of a doubt it's the best homemade wine I've ever tasted. Can only be down to a decent recipe from dear old Mr Berry and lots of time to mature. (I did try a little at racking and it was just ok).

So I'd say deffo yes to time making a huge difference as long the elements Tony mentions are already in place. What recipe did you use?
 
Recipe I used was from this forum,
just over a litre jug tightly packed with elderflowers
just over a KG of sugar dissolved in 2l of water boiling water
All mixed together and left for a few hours
Added a ridiculously strong cup of yorkshire tea for some tannin and a bit of pectolase and a squeezed lemon.
Topped up to 5l and strained in to a DJ.
 
There are two recipies in the Berry book but I think I used this one...

ELDERFLOWER
Ingredients:
2/3 pint elderflowers
½ lb. raisins
1 gallon water
Juice of 3 lemons
3 ½ lb. white sugar
Yeast; nutrient

Method:
Gather the flowers on a sunny day when they are fully opened, and trim them from
the stems with a pair of scissors, until you have a pint (pressed down lightly) of petals.
Bring the water to the boil and pour over the flowers, then add the sugar, chopped raisins
and lemon juice. When cool (70 degrees F.) add the yeast (a pre-prepared wine yeast is
best, but a level teaspoon of granulated yeast can be used) and nutrient. The nutrient is
most important in this case. Cover well and leave to ferment in a warm place for four or
five days. Strain into another jar, fit air lock, and leave to ferment. When it clears siphon
it off the deposit for the first time; two months later rack it again, and bottle it.

Reckon I bought a packet of yeast of eBay but can't remember which one right now!

Do you think time might improve yours?
 
Elderflower is giving you the lovely bouquet but like tonyhibbet said there is sod all giving you flavour. Some white grape concentrate would have worked well, or a pound of well chopped sultanas.


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