Honeysuckle Wine

With Spring almost here (it's still been a little chilly here), the flowers will soon be popping out. What better way to celebrate than to make a batch of wine with the flowers. For this wine make sure that you only use the flowers because the berries are poisonous.

Ingredients

4 cups honeysuckle blossoms 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar juice and rind of 2 oranges 1/2 pound raisins 2 teaspoons acid blend 1 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 campden tablet 1 teaspoon nutrients 1 teaspoon tannin water to make 1 gallon 1 package wine yeast

Gently rinse the blossoms in cold water. Place in primary fermentor. Add 1 gallon of water and all other ingredients except yeast. Stir to dissolve sugar. Specific Gravity should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Let sit overnight.

The next day, add yeast. Stir daily until frothing stops -- about 3 to 5 days. Strain out blossoms and siphon into secondary fermentor. Attach air lock. 

For a dry wine, rack in six weeks, then every three months for one year. Bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at six weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle. 

Bottle the wine when it is 6 to 12 months old. I like to continue racking for a whole year to ensure the wine is as clear as possible. Wine is ready to drink one year after the date the batch was started.