Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to their
wine? I know it is done in making a type of mead
(metheglin) and in making some Christmas drinks
with spices and wine.

I recently added some home grown anise hyssop to
some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that was
harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
color and was pretty bad stuff.

I was about to pour it down the drain when I said
to myself, what the heck, experiment a little. I
added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to a
bottle and after a day, voila, I had something
not only drinkable but actually quite enjoyable
(providing you like the flavor of Liquorice. it
added both body and of course flavor. It is
going to take some experimenting to get the exact
amount to add but at least this is a start for
me.

I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
natural boquet and taste.

Paul,
I've made wine out of herbs with a base of Welch's 100% grape or white
frozen juice, but I have not added any herbs to any of my wines. And most of
the herb wines I've made I use for cooking/marinating. Sounds interesting
though and good-luck.
Darlene

"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to their
> wine? I know it is done in making a type of mead
> (metheglin) and in making some Christmas drinks
> with spices and wine.
>
> I recently added some home grown anise hyssop to
> some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that was
> harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
> to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
> color and was pretty bad stuff.
>
> I was about to pour it down the drain when I said
> to myself, what the heck, experiment a little. I
> added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to a
> bottle and after a day, voila, I had something
> not only drinkable but actually quite enjoyable
> (providing you like the flavor of Liquorice. it
> added both body and of course flavor. It is
> going to take some experimenting to get the exact
> amount to add but at least this is a start for
> me.
>
> I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
> aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
> natural boquet and taste.
>
>

Aren't vermouths a wine base infused with herbs and spice? and I would
include Lillet in this category...

curious regards, bobdrob


"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to their
> wine? I know it is done in making a type of mead
> (metheglin) and in making some Christmas drinks
> with spices and wine.
>
> I recently added some home grown anise hyssop to
> some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that was
> harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
> to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
> color and was pretty bad stuff.
>
> I was about to pour it down the drain when I said
> to myself, what the heck, experiment a little. I
> added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to a
> bottle and after a day, voila, I had something
> not only drinkable but actually quite enjoyable
> (providing you like the flavor of Liquorice. it
> added both body and of course flavor. It is
> going to take some experimenting to get the exact
> amount to add but at least this is a start for
> me.
>
> I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
> aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
> natural boquet and taste.
>
>

Hi Paul

I always prefered the "mixed drink" approach since this allowed me
to make up something different each time I opened a bottle. But
others asked me to try to find a way to bottle the stuff so they could
enjoy just a glass or two without having to mix up a big batch each
time. Once you start thinking "country" rather than "noble" (grapes),
you can do just about anything you like by following just a few
simple rules.

1. If the alcohol is high enough (20% plus), it will be stable in the
bottle no matter what it is. Think of Port or that lemon vodka
drink that Joe makes.

2. If the alcohol is lower but still above 10% you will need the added
protection of sulfite. Since sulfite is pH dependent, you will need
to get the pH down to ~3.6 or less so modest amounts of
sulfite will be effective.

3. If, in the case of number 2 above, there is also sugar present in
the finished product, you will also need sorbate/benzoate for
added stability. I suppose sterile filtration would also work but
I never tried that because I never trusted it not to get reinfected
after filtration in my "home" environment.

And it doesn't matter if you ferment these things or just mix up
something and bottle it. Stability in the bottle is what matters.

Some herbs and spices can have very different characters depending
on method of extraction. Generally these are hot water, cold water,
and alcoholic (during or after fermentation). Easily checked by
making a little of each in your kitchen and tasting each.

I have been cautioned about rambling on too much, so I hope this
little bit helps.

Frederick


"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to their
> wine? I know it is done in making a type of mead
> (metheglin) and in making some Christmas drinks
> with spices and wine.
>
> I recently added some home grown anise hyssop to
> some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that was
> harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
> to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
> color and was pretty bad stuff.
>
> I was about to pour it down the drain when I said
> to myself, what the heck, experiment a little. I
> added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to a
> bottle and after a day, voila, I had something
> not only drinkable but actually quite enjoyable
> (providing you like the flavor of Liquorice. it
> added both body and of course flavor. It is
> going to take some experimenting to get the exact
> amount to add but at least this is a start for
> me.
>
> I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
> aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
> natural boquet and taste.
>
>

frederick ploegman wrote:

> Hi Paul
>
> I always prefered the "mixed drink" approach
> since this allowed me
> to make up something different each time I
> opened a bottle. But others asked me to try to
> find a way to bottle the stuff so they could
> enjoy just a glass or two without having to mix
> up a big batch each
> time. Once you start thinking "country" rather
> than "noble" (grapes), you can do just about
> anything you like by following just a few simple
> rules.
>
> 1. If the alcohol is high enough (20% plus), it
> will be stable in the
> bottle no matter what it is. Think of Port
> or that lemon vodka drink that Joe makes.
>
> 2. If the alcohol is lower but still above 10%
> you will need the added
> protection of sulfite. Since sulfite is pH
> dependent, you will need to get the pH down
> to ~3.6 or less so modest amounts of
> sulfite will be effective.
>
> 3. If, in the case of number 2 above, there is
> also sugar present in
> the finished product, you will also need
> sorbate/benzoate for
> added stability. I suppose sterile
> filtration would also work but I never
> tried that because I never trusted it not
> to get reinfected after filtration in my
> "home" environment.
>
> And it doesn't matter if you ferment these
> things or just mix up
> something and bottle it. Stability in the
> bottle is what matters.
>
> Some herbs and spices can have very different
> characters depending
> on method of extraction. Generally these are
> hot water, cold water,
> and alcoholic (during or after fermentation).
> Easily checked by making a little of each in
> your kitchen and tasting each.
>
> I have been cautioned about rambling on too
> much, so I hope this little bit helps.
>
> Frederick

Ramble on, I'll read it.

What I have done so far is to experiment with some
already made and bottled wine.

For example, I have put a leaf of Anise Hyssop in
some opened wine and then recorked it with a bar
top and let sit a couple days. It adds a LOT of
Liquorice flavor and bouquet which I like but
others may not. It seems to work best on wines
that are not oaked.

I have some more herbs in my garden that I plan to
experiment (Tyme, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon and
Lavender) with and unfortunately some bottled
wine that is not all that great and therefore can
not hurt it much. If anyone has some wine that
they are going to pour down the drain anyway, it
is worth a try - in my opinion. Seems like it
could be good to make a "cooking wine" also even
though my definition of "cooking wine" is wine
you drink while cooking ;-)




>
> "Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote
> in message
>
...
>> Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to
>> their
>> wine? I know it is done in making a type of
>> mead (metheglin) and in making some Christmas
>> drinks with spices and wine.
>>
>> I recently added some home grown anise hyssop
>> to some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that
>> was
>> harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
>> to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
>> color and was pretty bad stuff.
>>
>> I was about to pour it down the drain when I
>> said
>> to myself, what the heck, experiment a little.
>> I added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to
>> a bottle and after a day, voila, I had
>> something not only drinkable but actually quite
>> enjoyable
>> (providing you like the flavor of Liquorice.
>> it
>> added both body and of course flavor. It is
>> going to take some experimenting to get the
>> exact amount to add but at least this is a
>> start for me.
>>
>> I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
>> aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
>> natural boquet and taste.
>>
>>

Hi Paul

Not sure anyone can give you any solid advice in this area. It's all
too personal. Folks tend to develop love hate relationships with
individual herbs/spices. Example: I_hate_anise/liquorice flavor
any time, anywhere, any way !! So, if I had a bottle of your wine,
it would go straight down the drain. Personal. I also_hate_any
kind of chemical "heat" (ie chilli peppers). Again, personal.

The things I used most often were cinnamon and real vanilla extract.
Rarely things like ginger, nutmeg, or mint.

Tried oak a few times in "country" (non grape)wines and didn't like
it. Decided it didn't belong there. Personal. A drop (or 3) of
real vanilla extract can give a similar effect but without the
"woodyness" if you know what I mean. (is that a real word ?)

Bad wine should go straight down the drain every time. Even
mediocre wine should be dumped. A good but "less than wonderful"
wine can usually be saved by "dressing it up" in any number of
ways. When poor wine is used in cooking, as soon as it hits the
heat, the alcohol gets blown off. And, as the sauce is reduced, it
further concentrates the bad flavors from the wine. Don't understand
why folks do this. Life is much too short to settle for "mediocre"
anything !! HTH

Frederick


"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> frederick ploegman wrote:
>
>> Hi Paul
>>
>> I always prefered the "mixed drink" approach
>> since this allowed me
>> to make up something different each time I
>> opened a bottle. But others asked me to try to
>> find a way to bottle the stuff so they could
>> enjoy just a glass or two without having to mix
>> up a big batch each
>> time. Once you start thinking "country" rather
>> than "noble" (grapes), you can do just about
>> anything you like by following just a few simple
>> rules.
>>
>> 1. If the alcohol is high enough (20% plus), it
>> will be stable in the
>> bottle no matter what it is. Think of Port
>> or that lemon vodka drink that Joe makes.
>>
>> 2. If the alcohol is lower but still above 10%
>> you will need the added
>> protection of sulfite. Since sulfite is pH
>> dependent, you will need to get the pH down
>> to ~3.6 or less so modest amounts of
>> sulfite will be effective.
>>
>> 3. If, in the case of number 2 above, there is
>> also sugar present in
>> the finished product, you will also need
>> sorbate/benzoate for
>> added stability. I suppose sterile
>> filtration would also work but I never
>> tried that because I never trusted it not
>> to get reinfected after filtration in my
>> "home" environment.
>>
>> And it doesn't matter if you ferment these
>> things or just mix up
>> something and bottle it. Stability in the
>> bottle is what matters.
>>
>> Some herbs and spices can have very different
>> characters depending
>> on method of extraction. Generally these are
>> hot water, cold water,
>> and alcoholic (during or after fermentation).
>> Easily checked by making a little of each in
>> your kitchen and tasting each.
>>
>> I have been cautioned about rambling on too
>> much, so I hope this little bit helps.
>>
>> Frederick
>
> Ramble on, I'll read it.
>
> What I have done so far is to experiment with some
> already made and bottled wine.
>
> For example, I have put a leaf of Anise Hyssop in
> some opened wine and then recorked it with a bar
> top and let sit a couple days. It adds a LOT of
> Liquorice flavor and bouquet which I like but
> others may not. It seems to work best on wines
> that are not oaked.
>
> I have some more herbs in my garden that I plan to
> experiment (Tyme, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon and
> Lavender) with and unfortunately some bottled
> wine that is not all that great and therefore can
> not hurt it much. If anyone has some wine that
> they are going to pour down the drain anyway, it
> is worth a try - in my opinion. Seems like it
> could be good to make a "cooking wine" also even
> though my definition of "cooking wine" is wine
> you drink while cooking ;-)
>
>
>
>
>>
>> "Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote
>> in message
>>
> ...
>>> Has anyone experimented with adding herbs to
>>> their
>>> wine? I know it is done in making a type of
>>> mead (metheglin) and in making some Christmas
>>> drinks with spices and wine.
>>>
>>> I recently added some home grown anise hyssop
>>> to some of my 1995 overcropped Chambourcin that
>>> was
>>> harvested after a solid week of rain. Needless
>>> to say, the Chambourcin lacked both body and
>>> color and was pretty bad stuff.
>>>
>>> I was about to pour it down the drain when I
>>> said
>>> to myself, what the heck, experiment a little.
>>> I added a leaf of my home grown anise hyssop to
>>> a bottle and after a day, voila, I had
>>> something not only drinkable but actually quite
>>> enjoyable
>>> (providing you like the flavor of Liquorice.
>>> it
>>> added both body and of course flavor. It is
>>> going to take some experimenting to get the
>>> exact amount to add but at least this is a
>>> start for me.
>>>
>>> I know some purists may sigh and frown but hey,
>>> aging in OAK is not exactly neutral to a wines
>>> natural boquet and taste.
>>>