Re: Herbs and Wine

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" <someone@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
in message

news:KuidnbEbycXDS-TbnZ2dnUVZ_oWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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.



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