oak leaf wine

[old tree man]

I took Jane out for a walk today to give her some fresh air and had the idea of picking some young oak leaves to make some wine, i will keep you updated how it turns out.

Russ

[Ellendra]

Pardon my ignorance, but I though oak leaves were toxic to humans?

[MikeM]

nowt wrong with oakleaf wine, one of the best whites I've ever made.

[ina]

Have you got a recipe for that? Don't think there is one in the wine books I have... And my favourite Scottish wine maker has a wonderful oakleaf wine.

[Cheezy]

M' Grans 1960's WI wine book has one, I'm away this weekend, but if I remember on Sunday I'll try and post one.

[old tree man]

I got the recipie from my friend who has been a forrester for longer than me

7pts young oak leaves
3lb of granulated sugar
juice of 2 oranges and their zest
juice of 1 lemon and its zest
1 gallon of water
wine yeast

method
wash the leaves and put them in a bucket and pour 6 pints of boiling water over the leaves cover and leave for 24hrs,strain the liquid into a pan with the sugar orange and lemon juice and their zest, stir well to dissolve the sugar and bring to the boil and simmer fo 20 mins, allow to cool and strain through muslin into a demijohn add the remaining ingredients give a good shake and add an airlock,after about 4/5 days top up the demijohn, when clear 2/3 months rack again to another demijohn and leave for another 2 months then bottle, allow 6 months to 1 year to drink

enjoy

Russ

[ina]

Thanks, Russ!

Now I have to find an oaktree that's rather larger than the one I have in my garden. (A stunted specimen, about two feet high...)

[Andy Hamilton]

I have a demi john waiting to be used might give this one a go too.