Gorse Flower Wurzels

[andymacintyre]

I have been given a load of gorseflower syrup courtesy of my mother - she picked a load of gorse flowers and made them into a syrup as per the HFW Gorseflower Wine recipe http://www.channel4.com/food/recipe...hittingstall/gorseflower-wine-recipe_p_1.html. Now I am looking at the HFW recipe and am thinking that it looks like it will make a very dry thin wine.

I wondered about trying to incorporate the gorse syrup into the Wurzels recipe which I have done successfully before.

She picked 3 and a half pints of gorse flowers (variety Flore Pleno - smells v coconutty) , simmered for 15 minutes in 2 litres of water, then 500g golden granulated sugar dissolved in, and left to steep overnight then strained and frozen.

So my plan to make a 1 gall batch of Gorseflower Wurzels is:

1 litre carton Del Monte 100% pure orange juice.
1 litre carton Tesco’s pure pressed white grape juice.
My gorseflower syrup (already contains 500g sugar)
Further 180g sugar to give same sugar content as original Wurzels recipe.
1 tsp nutrient
G.P. yeast
½ tsp tannin
1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp glycerine
Water to 1 gallon

Can any of the more experienced winemakers comment on my proposed recipe to see if this has any problems?
I hope the coconut from the gorseflowers comes through in the finished wine but I guess that's not a given.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Cussword]

Looks good to me Andy Let us know how it turns out :thumb:

 

[Turbotez]

sounds good

Love Macca Pakka too!!!! just hope it doesnt go Upsi Daisy lols :rofl:

 

[andymacintyre]

Right then - hope to get this started on Friday evening.
May post a few piccies.

 

[andymacintyre]

It's on day 5 - has a fantastic yellow colour from the gorse syrup.

And here are the very flowers it was made from:

 

[Cussword]

Looking good :thumb: , what was your initial gravity?

 

[andymacintyre]

Due to a smashed hydrometer - I have no idea!
:-)

 

[Cussword]

That is definately the way to go :thumb:

 

[andymacintyre]

Here it is (on the left), racked stabilised and just added finings.
Not tasting any of the coconut flavour from the gorse. Maybe it will come through a bit in the finished wine.

 

[snail59]

Here it is (on the left), racked stabilised and just added finings.
Not tasting any of the coconut flavour from the gorse. Maybe it will come through a bit in the finished wine.

Thats amazing look how clear it is in the 3rd one

 

[Moley]

Thats amazing look how clear it is in the 3rd one

:rofl:

Now you aren't leaving those jars half empty for any length of time, are you Andy?

 

[andymacintyre]

Well the pinot grigio on the right has been like that for a couple of months. Plan to bottle this weekend. The wurzel on the left was just racked off sediment a few days ago. Just waiting to clear and bottle. Is it bad practice to leave them with too much airspace (ie not topped up to the neck). The kit wine said it did not recommend topping up to ensure properly balanced wine.

Once these are empty they will be refilled fast enough!

 

[Moley]

Fair point about the kit wine, it's probably low alcohol anyway

Even so, I would never leave a jar as low as your Wurzel's unless it was only just started or being bottled within a week or two, and I would never leave a jar as low as your Pinot Grigio unless I was impatient and had already drunk a bottle from it.

I suspect you're losing too much to racking.

 

[andymacintyre]

Thanks for the advice.
The wurzel will only be like that or a week or 2 before it's in a bottle.
The kit wine has lost a lot at each racking. If I'd topped it up at each racking it would be even lower alcohol by now ;-)

Hopefully the wurzel will be fine but I suspect the kit wine will be not great.

 

[CptnCrackoff]

not wanting to hijack the thread but....

my latest wine kit told me to mark 4.56ltrs, 1 gal. I was amazed how far down 1 gal actually is in my DJs. I'm presuming the kit did this to give the best possible results!?

Normally i top up to the neck of the dj, as i've been told this is best practice.

My % calculator in my book is for 5ltrs, which is about right for up to the neck on my DJs, does this mean that any calculators or recipes i try to follow that are in gallons will cause me to make slightly watered down/weaker wines than the recipe intends?

Does that even make sense!? :?

 

[andymacintyre]

I'm no expert but I guess if it says top up to 1 gall and you go to 5 litres then it's going to be a bit dilute.

I tell you this though, that kit Pinot Grigio that's been sat for months with a lot of headspace in the demi tastes pretty good. No signs of oxidation that I can detect. It's the first kit wine I've tried (California Connosiuer) and I'm quite impressed. It's better than most of the whites in my last Virgin Wines case.

 

[andymacintyre]

Thats it racked again, and topped up with some pinot grigio to remove the headspace in the DJ.
Clearing fast with the finings.
Will filter, sweeten and bottle at the weekend.