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Let me begin this chapter by assuring you that one of the loveliest wines I have ever tasted was made with gorse flowers by a member of the Bourneouth Wine- Makers' Circle.
This I sampled while lecturing at the Town Hall there on the occasion of the Amateur Wine- Makers' Second Annual Conference and Show.
Flower wines, cannot, of course, be likened to any other homemade wine-or commercial wine- because their flavors are unique; they can only be described as delicately aromatic, their bouquet cannot be found in any other wine.
Their popularity is lessened only by the labor of collecting the flowers; but by choosing a spot where they abound, enough for a gallon or two may be gathered in an hour.
Care is needed if we are to get the best from our ingredients. When gathering the flowers it is best to use a basket of ample size because crushing will damage the flowers and we shall not get such a delightful wine.
All flowers should be gathered on a dry day but not necessarily on a sunny one; though it must be sunny when collecting dandelions otherwise they are either closed or half-closed and difficult to find. In their closed state
they teem with insects which would get into the wine and spoil it. Dandelions close when gathered but this does notn matter. In fact it is a great help because we should use only the petals of dandelions, and when they are closed the petals may be pulled out all together merely by holding the head of the flower and pulling on the petals grouped together.
Although only petals should be used many people make quite good dandelion wine by using the whole heads, but I use petals only.
To achieve the best result a wine yeast should be used and this may be an all-purpose wine yeast. Invert sugar should not be used in these recipes because it is inclined to slightly alter the aroma of the flower and change the delicate color of the wines made from recipes in this chapter.
Bakers' yeast is included in the recipe together with household sugar; those preferring to use a wine yeast 'started' as directed may, of course, do so.
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