Lilac wine is a delicious and fun way to preserve the fragrance of these short-lived springtime flowers. Pulling the flowers from their stems is also relatively easy, especially compared to dandelions and elderflowers, which are the other other flower wines I’ve made. It also requires minimal equipment and ingredients.
Make sure to harvest the flowers from trees that haven’t been sprayed and are not close to the road. That’s because you don’t want to wash your lilac blossoms before use—water can wash away some of the nectar that contains the fragrance and flavor. I give them a little blow to evict any insects that might be hiding in the clusters, but otherwise use them as is. I also like to harvest in the morning before the sun has had time to dry out the nectar, and never after a rain for the same reason I don’t wash them.
In terms of equipment, you’ll need a 1.5+ gallon stock pot with a lid, a metal spoon for stirring, a metal sieve or cheesecloth to strain out the flowers, and a 1-gallon glass jug that you’ve sterilized with boiling water (I also sometimes swish a shot of vodka around in the jug for extra precaution, then drink it (of course). If you don’t have an airlock, make sure to have a clean towel and rubber band handy. A funnel is incredibly helpful. This recipe makes 1 gallon of wine.
INGREDIENTS
1 quart of somewhat tightly packed lilac flowers, free from stems and leaves
4 quarts of water
5 cups of organic sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 2 teaspoons of citric acid
Wine yeast
INSTRUCTIONS
Bring the water and sugar to a boil, then reduce to low heat.
Stir in lilacs and simmer with a closed lid for 5 minutes.
Stir in lemon or citric acid, then remove from heat, keeping the lid closed.
Let this lilac sweet tea cool to skin temperature (test the closed pot with your wrist or hand like you would a baby bottle without opening the lid).
Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a sterilized glass jug (this is when a funnel would be helpful), then add the appropriate amount of wine yeast and gently move the jug to help the yeast sink from the surface.
Put an airlock over the top of your jug, or place a clean kitchen cloth over the top and seal with a rubber band.
Now your gallon of soon-to-be wine just wants to sit in a dark spot that’s not too warm and not too cold (think: Goldilocks) such as a closet or cabinet that rarely gets used. Within a day or two, the yeast should be happily converting sugar into booze, and you should start to see bubbles rise to the surface like in a glass of champagne. Your job is finished, for now.
Every few days, check on the wine to see how the bubbles are doing. I find that shining a flashlight into the jug to see the bubbles clearly is helpful, especially toward the end of the process when they’re tiny and slow. In 4-6 weeks, the bubbles should subside, and you can either drink the wine or bottle it for later. In both cases, you want to clarify the wine first. You can do that by putting your gallon into the refrigerator to “cold shock” the yeast, which makes it fall to the bottom of the jug.
If you choose to bottle, siphon the wine into sterilized wine bottles and cork it up. Some people like to allow the lilac wine to bottle condition for several months before drinking, but the flavor does change over time. I say if you like the wine at the time of bottling, then drink it soon. Experimenting with different aging periods can also be fun.
Cheers!