Make Your Own Dandelion Wine
July 8, 2009 by Heather R.
Filed under Recipes
Ten years ago dandelions would have been one thing on my list of things I’d never have considered eating. I mean, who eats weeds, right?
With the popularity of home cooking shows, celebrity chefs and a huge amount of information about them on the internet, , though, I’ve become a little more accepting of the cute little yellow pests as a form of nourishment. This doesn’t, however, mean I’ve tried them yet!
So when I came across the video series at MonkeySee about making your own dandelion wine, I was intrigued. I’ve heard of it before in more a passing kind of way — a link online or a mention from a tv chef — but I’d never given much thought to trying it, much less making my own!
In the video series, Phil Tonks of Grandview Winery explains the basics of dandelion wine making, and to be honest, it doesn’t look that difficult!
He explains that it’s important to pick dandelions that have not been sprayed and to choose plants that are about a foot long and whose flowers, which are what is used to make the wine, have not turned white. (Even the dandelion leaves don’t go to waste — they can be used in a fresh, nutritious salad!)
It takes eight cups of just dandelion petals (no green) to make one gallon of wine!
The next video is about the equipment used in making the dandelion wine. Then there’s the dandelion fermentation process, racking the wine, and bottling the wine.
Have you ever had dandelion wine? Have you ever tried making it?
