Primrose Wine

Have you got enough primroses in your garden?

we have never made any flower wines other than elderflower, but a recipe in a book we have says you need a gallon of primroses. That's a hell of a lot of primroses! You also need 3lbs of sugar, 2 oranges, 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of grape tannin, 1 gallon of water, yeast and nutrient. "Bring the water to the boil and stir in the sugar making sure that it is all dissolved. Put the peel of the lemon and oranges in to a crock, bowl or polythene bucket, being careful to exclude all the white pith (no jokes about taking the pith, please!) and pour the hot syrup over the rinds. Allow to cool to 21 deg C, and then add the flowers, the juice of the fruit, tannin, your chosen yeast and some yeast nutrient. Cover closely and leave in a warm place for five days, stirring each day. Strain through a nylon sieve or muslin into a fermenting jar, filling it to the bottom of the neck, and fit an airlock. Leave for three months and then siphon the wine off the yeast sediment into a fresh jar. Further racking after another three months is helpful, and shortly after that the wine will be fit to drink, if still young." Hope that's helpful.

I'm serious about where you would get the primroses from. You can't pick them from the countryside.

Primroses are best left to do what they do best: reassure us that spring is really here - or nearly here. If you want to make wine with them, the answer surely is to grow your own.

I can't imagine that something like primroses would make a very good wine anyway. Why not try elderflower, or rose petal, both of which can be bought dried from brewing shops or websites.

I've never seen Primrose wine. I saw her whinge a bit once, though. (Come to think of it, I've never been on top of Primrose Hill either.)

Groan.................... crun!

My husband made some many many moons ago, don't have the recipe any more. Actually Greyduster it was delicious! Very delicate. Can't remember where he got the primroses - probably went out under cover of darkness so jinglbells wouldn't see him .

Ash