Apple + Hawthorn Berry Wine

Tasting Notes

A lovely pale golden amber colour that smells of autumn leaves, apricot skins and apple cores.

On first tasting there's a slight effervescence, medium sweetness, you could almost mistake it for sherry...

But!  My dear friends, if you're able to open it and wait, at the very least 30 minutes, better yet, the whole day (ie. If you know you'll be serving it in the evening, open it in the morning) you will be rewarded with a complex but mellow wine; roasted plums, apple skins and hang with me here... lemonade popsicles!  (Took me ages to land my finger on that one!).  This wine will mature beautifully over the years.

Hard to believe it's only 11% on tasting.  If you're wanting to drink it with a meal, it goes well with tomato based dishes.

Winemaking Notes

Hawthorn berries are often seen on the side of our roads, but more often than not, overlooked by the general Jo Schmo.  Herbalists and foragers on the other hand get well excited by haw season; hawthorn leaves, flowers and berries make an amazing heart tonic for the trained herbalist, and the berries make a great ketchup for the forager... also a fab wine for the winemaker!

I get my haws from an isolated road near home; they get washed then soaked for two to three days.  Theres a wildling apple tree nearby so I collect them as well and add them to my own Belle de Boskoop apples.  The haws get rubbed and put with the apples, sugar, filtered water and some elderflower concentrate that had been made for cordial (sorry kids!).  They all sat together for a couple of days until I sieved it and pitched the yeast.  Bottled in July 2024 and released April 2025.

• 11% ABV
• No sulfites
• Vegan and gluten free