My gosh, that's wonderful. thank you. For those following this tread,
here is the new Dried Elderberry Port:
DRIED ELDERBERRY PORT



• 7 ounces dried elderberries
• ½ pound of chopped raisins
• 1 banana
• 3 ½ pounds sugar
• 9 ½ pints water
• 1 tsp acid blend
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• EC1118 or P. Cuvee yeast


Bring water to boil with sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved and water
clear. Wash dried elderberries and put in nylon straining bag with
several marbles for weight. Tie bag and put in primary. Pour boiling
sugar-water over elderberries and cover primary. When cool, stir in
crushed Campden, yeast nutrient and acid blend until dissolved. Recover
and set aside 12 hours. Add activated yeast.

Ferment until s.g. drops to 1.060, stirring and squeezing bag daily.
Transfer liquid to secondary, fit airlock and ferment Wait until
fermentation is complete and the wine begins to fall clear. (usually 3
to 6 weeks depending on temperature). Rack every 30 days until wine
clears and doesn't drop even a dusting of lees over a 30-day period.

Bottle and enjoy. The Port improves in 6-12 months.

thanks, frederick!

DAve

frederick ploegman wrote:
> Hi Dave
>
> You can also change the recipe so you can do that.
>
> 1. Cross out "...Montrachet yeast..." and write in: EC 1118 or
> P. Cuvee.
>
> 2. Drop down to the last paragraph of the instructions and cross
> out "...1.010..." and write in: 1.060.
>
> 3. Cross out "...ferment to dryness..." and write in: Wait until
> fermentation is complete and the wine begins to fall clear.
> (usually 3 to 6 weeks depending on temperature)
>
> HTH
>
> Frederick
>
> PS - You can easily convert_any_wine which has adequate body
> and intensity of flavor to a port style wine.
> 1. Add enough alcohol to bring it up to ~20%ABV.
> 2. Add enough sugar to bring the end SG up into the 1.020-1.030
> range.
> 3. Since the high alcohol pervents refermentation, no sorbate is
> required.
>
> You can do it either way. Have fun. ;o) HTH
>
>
>
> "Dave Allison" > wrote in message
> ...
>> wow! In fact, when I tasted the bold sweet taste, it did remind me of a
>> port. Since I love ports, I think I will redo my "mistake" and make some
>> more -- but it was nice of you to explain the below.
>> I always get wiser reading this newsgroup.
>>
>> thanks, DAve
>>
>> frederick ploegman wrote:
>>> Hi Dave
>>>
>>> No wonder this - got too hot - . Major mistake in the recipe !!
>>> The instructions say to ferment to dryness but there is no
>>> possible way that Montrachet yeast can ferment 4 pounds of
>>> sugar to dryness. Even the EC 1118 that you used can't do it.
>>>
>>> At this point I would guesstimate you have about 18% alcohol
>>> and about 30 (plus) gravity points of residual sugar. Most folks
>>> would label this a Port style wine. Nothing wrong with that, but
>>> the instructions indicate it should have turned out as a dry table
>>> wine.
>>>
>>> To correct the recipe:
>>>
>>> 1. Change the sugar from 3 1/2 pounds to 1 1/2 pounds.
>>> 2. Make a note that the starting SG should be in the 1.080 to
>>> 1.085 range when the yeast is added.
>>> 3. This should give you a dry wine with about 11% alcohol.
>>> If you don't like it dry like this, you can always add sorbate
>>> and sweeten to taste.
>>>
>>> HTH
>>>
>>> Frederick
>>>
>>>
>>> "Dave Allison" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Well, an update on the Dried Elderberry wine. I have racked it and
>>>> racked it - and today I bottled it. I started January 29th 2007. The
>>>> wine has GREAT potential. It has a very full body! I'm thinking ice cold
>>>> in small glasses. I will store it until Christmas before I open the
>>>> first bottle. Since I only made just over 1 gallon - I bottled most in
>>>> 375 ml bottles, so I could taste along the way.
>>>> As the original post stated - I used a modified Jacks' recipe for Dried
>>>> Elderberry wine -
>>>>
>>>> ---------------
>>>> DRIED ELDERBERRY WINE
>>>> • 7 ounces dried elderberries
>>>> • ½ pound of chopped raisins
>>>> • 1 banana
>>>> • 3 ½ pounds sugar
>>>> • 9 ½ pts water
>>>> • 1 tsp acid blend
>>>> • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
>>>> • 1 crushed Campden tablet
>>>> • packet of Montrachet yeast.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Bring water to boil with sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved and water
>>>> clear. Wash dried elderberries and put in nylon straining bag with
>>>> several marbles for weight, add raisins (chopped) and banana (mashed).
>>>> Tie bag and put in primary. Pour boiling sugar-water over elderberries
>>>> and cover primary. When cool, stir in crushed Campden, yeast nutrient
>>>> and acid blend until dissolved. Recover and set aside 12 hours. Add
>>>> activated yeast.
>>>>
>>>> Ferment until s.g. drops to 1.010, stirring and squeezing bag daily.
>>>> Transfer liquid to secondary, fit airlock and ferment to dryness. Rack
>>>> every 30 days until wine clears and doesn't drop even a dusting of lees
>>>> over a 30-day period.
>>>>
>>>> Bottle and enjoy. The wine improves with age.
>>>> ------------
>>>>
>>>> My S.G. started at 1.152 and ended up at 1.020
>>>>
>>>> I am interested in doing this again, I may decide to do 3 gallons as I
>>>> really like the results.
>>>>
>>>> DAve
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dave Allison wrote:
>>>>> Thanks, Gene and Joe, for the advice. I have pitched another yeast
>>>>> round. I am using Lalvin EC-1118 again, as this is what I have. :*)
>>>>>
>>>>> I'll see what happens in 48 hours. thanks again,
>>>>> DAve
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Joe Sallustio wrote:
>>>>>> I would agree with Gene, and doubt you damaged the wine at all too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Joe
>>>>>>
>