FRUIT LEAF WINES

[Aqualung]

Hi all,
I have just picked my black currants and popped them in the freezer, but there is hardly any this year. I will have to keep them in the freezer. As I was picking them I noticed the smell of blackcurrant from touching the leaves and I have just gone out and pulled off a small piece of leaf, rubbed it between my fingers, and got the smell of blackcurrant.

So my question would be, in the absence of enough blackcurrant berries, can I make wine from the leaves?

Has anyone tried it and if so, did it work?

 

[ChrisRedWills]

sounds interesting I would add boiling water to a cup of the leaves give a good stir and see what the flavours like once it's cooled you never know if the flavour is nice you could do a mixture of leaves and berries

 

[MarkBowie]

If you’re going to do it I would pick plenty and make it from the fresh leaves. They’re slightly more ‘floral’ in flavour and the aroma is slightly misleading for final taste. I’ve only had the leaf tea (dried and fresh) and drying took away some of the floral flavours.

 

[Aqualung]

Thanks for the ideas but I think I might kill off the plants if I take enough leaves off for wine.
However I have lots of raspberry plants and lots of berries. But not enough for wine because my Son and the MIL both love raspberries. It has taken me three years to freeze enough berries for a gallon of wine.

I have just made some nettle top wine:-
About a quart of nettle tops
1 kilo of sugar
1/2lb raisins-chopped
juice from a lemon
a strong cup of black tea
yeast nutrient and yeast
I boiled the nettle tops for 20 minutes before adding the sugar and chopped raisins. Then added the other ingredients the following morning.

So I thought I would use the same recipe, but use raspberry leaves instead.
What do you think?