Homemade rose petal wine is a heady wine drink with the aroma of roses. After some experimentation, we made this earthy wine with dried rose petals, and it’s perfect for celebrations or regular days in.
Give me a bouquet of organic flowers and don’t be surprised if you catch me munching on some of them. Especially roses. I love roses. They taste milky sometimes, and sometimes they taste like a handful of deliciously scented earth.
Of course, different people find rose petals taste like different things. Some think they taste like strawberries, some like apples, some like spices.
Taste is really subjective.
Anyways, I’ve got so much stock of dried rose petals at home, it’s difficult not to reach for them and make some delicious rose and peppermint cookies, or some rose and coconut barfi.
Of course there are times I feel like drinking in the flavor of the rose. That’s how I got to making rose wine at home.
Rose petal wine, not rosé! Have to say that because there was the time we were Skyping a friend on another continent and I told him that we’d just made the best rose wine. And he was like, ‘Oh, we have that over here’. And I was like, ‘does it taste like roses?’ And he goes, ‘No, it’s rosé. It just tastes like wine’. And I’m like, ‘Exactly! I wasn’t talking about rosé! That’s common over here too. But I was talking about rose wine. Delcious, earthy, heady homemade wine made with rose petals’.
So my rose wine is one of my favorites. Well, along with my fresh ginger wine, chili wine, and all the other wines I make. The currant wine and pineapple wine are not so high on my favorite list. They’re just wines we have to make for Christmas and other events. But the rose wine is just perfect!
What Do You Need To Make Rose Petal Wine At Home?
Rose petals of course! You’ll also need some black currants, yeast, lemons, sugar, and water. You can use sultanas or raisins instead of the black currants.
Steps To Make Homemade Wine with Rose Petals
Note: Before we start with the rose wine recipe though, please note that here in Mumbai, India we’re allowed to make wine or beer at home as long as it’s for personal consumption. Just remember to check the legal requirement in your state or country before attempting to make wine at home.
So the steps to make our rose petal wine are the same as the steps to make almost every other home made wine. The only difference is, we replace the ginger or other fruit with dried organic rose petals. You can use fresh rose petals too if you want to.
Start by sterilizing all the equipment.
Was everything with boiling hot water – ceramic jars, demijohns, steel or wooden spoons, sieve, and anything else that you might use.
Next proof the yeast, if you need to.
In a small pot, warm a little of the water and stir in a teaspoon of sugar. (Measure this sugar out of the main sugar that you use.)
Add in the yeast, mix well, and leave it aside for some time. After about 5 to 10 minutes, the yeast will be bubbling wildly. So you’ll know that it’s ready to add to your wine barni, wine bucket or ceramic jar.
Of course, this step for proofing the yeast is not really necessary. If you’re certain the yeast is active, you can just throw it into the wine must later after adding all the other ingredients.
Now to prepare the rose petal wine must.
While the yeast is proofing, add the sugar, rose petals, chopped lemons, and sultanas or raisins to a barni or demijohn. Fill it with water and then add the proofed yeast and mix together. (We don’t boil the water because the local water in our area is good. But if you live in a country where the water is impure, please boil it before using.)
Cover the jar with a loose lid that allows the carbon dioxide to escape and leave overnight.
For the whole week, stir the rose petal must daily every morning. Or pick a particular time that you prefer and set it aside. Whatever time you do it is fine, as long as you remember to do it once a day. That being said, homemade wine is really forgiving. So if you skip a day or two, don’t worry about it.
On the 7th or 8th day, use a muslin cloth or a fine sieve to strain the wine into a glass or stainless steel pot or another demijohn. If you prefer to siphon the wine, you can do that. We prefer to use the easier style of just straining it like the grannies used to do.
The rose wine is technically ready to serve now, so you can drink it straight away. Or chill and serve!
What does the homemade rose flower wine taste like? It tastes like a bouquet of roses, a bit heady, sweet, and intensely floral. It makes for a really good dessert drink too.
But we prefer to rack it for a few weeks or months to give the dregs more time for sedimentation. Racking also gives this rose petal wine more time to deepen in flavor and taste.
So we bottle the strained wine and forget about it for some time while we enjoy one of the other wines we made, especially the ginger wine.
Who says you can’t wait with a glass of wine in your hand? Drink responsibly and enjoy!
And if you’re looking for an excuse to drink rose petal wine, just remember rose petals are good in antioxidants. Do you need any more incentives?
Homemade Rose Petal Wine (Not Rose)
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Ingredients
- 25 grams Dried Rose Petals Dried or Fresh
- 200 grams Black Currants
- 1 Kilograms Sugar
- 10 grams Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Lemon Cut into wedges
- 3 Litre Water
Instructions
Prepare Your Equipment
- Sterilize the jars, buckets or demijohns and spoons by washing with boiling water.
Proof The Yeast
- Warm a little of the of water (about 100 ml) and stir in 2 teaspoons of sugar. (Deduct this amount of sugar out of your main sugar.)
- Add in the yeast, mix well, and leave it aside for 10 minutes.
- After 5 to 10 minutes, the yeast will be bubbling wildly and is ready to add to your wine bucket or ceramic jar.
- Note: This step for proofing the yeast is not necessary. If you're certain the yeast is active, you can just throw the yeast into the must after adding all the ingredients for the wine must.
Prepare The Wine Must
- While the yeast is proofing, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a ceramic jar (wine barni) or demijohn, add the sugar, rose petals, chopped lemons, and black currants.
- Add the rest of the water into the ceramic jar or wine bucket and stir all the ingredients together.
- Once the yeast has finished proofing, add it to this mixture and stir again.
- Cover loosely with a lid and leave overnight.
- For the whole week, stir daily every morning. (Or at a set time during the day.)
Strain and Rack the Wine
- On the 7th or 8th day, use a sieve or muslin cloth to strain the wine into a stainless steel pot or another demijohn. (If you prefer to siphon the wine, you can do that. We prefer to use the easier homemade style.)
- The wine is technically ready to serve now, so you can drink it. But racking it just gives it more time to deepen in flavor and taste, and for any sediments to settle.
- Bottle the strained wine and leave aside for a few weeks or months before straining it and shifting to new bottles again.
- Drink responsibly and enjoy!
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Notes
- We purchase organic dried rose petals, but you can use fresh rose petals too.
- You can use either sultanas or raisins instead of black currants.
- Make sure you use lemons and not sour limes as they’re more zesty.
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.comCooking Tips
- You can use raisins or sultanas if you want, but we prefer the taste with black currants.
- Remember to deseed the lemons before adding them to the must, or they’ll give it a bitter aftertaste. Trust me, I know. One of my wine batches was only drunk by 50% of the family. Still a good ratio. 😉
- Fresh rose petals work as well as dried rose petals. Preferably use organic rose petals.
- Try to use lemons and not sour limes as they’re more zesty and less acidic than sour limes.
- Rerack the wine after a month to remove the dregs. That means, change wine bottles and get rid of that stuff that settles at the bottom.
- The longer you leave the wine to rest after making it, the better it tastes.
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I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love baking, cooking, and making wine at home. But I also love doing stuff around the house and spending time in the Word. You’ll find more info about me here!
Can your wine recipes be used in cooking, marinating…and what recipes for which wines do you suggest using?
Hi Audrey,
We use the wines in cooking. Just follow the normal rule. Whites for fish – so normally the ginger wine gives it some nice flavor, and the reds for meat curries. But really, even if you mix and match, it still works. I know mom uses my wines randomly.