Let’s make some Sparkling Rose Petal Wine! I am excited about this recipe because this is a brew you can all make, at just about any time of year. The list of ingredients is very short, and the star of the show– dried rose petals– can be found easily, either at your local herb shop, or online. The process is simple, and the only real hardship here is waiting and looking at that pretty wine until it’s ready. And the flavor is very special– so perfumey and rosey– perfect in the summertime.
How to Make Sparkling Rose Petal Wine
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- 50g Dried Organic Rose Petals* (You can order them here.)
- 3 Cardamom Pods (optional, find them here.)
- 6 Liters Filtered or Spring Water
- 2 lbs. Sugar
- 2 Lemons— preferably organic
- Champagne or Cider Yeast (You can order it here.)
*You can definitely use fresh petals as well, but the measurements will be different, since the fresh ones are heavier. I think this would convert to about 6 cups of fresh rose petals. Check out some of the recipes I reference below to get the correct measurements.
In terms of supplies, there are a few basic items you should have. You can often find these on craigslist, and definitely at a brewing supply store, or you can order them on amazon.
- Fermentation bucket
- Demijohns
- Airlocks with rubber stoppers
- Siphon hose
- a funnel
- Wine bottles (we usually just sanitize our old ones), corks, and a corker, OR swing-top bottles
- Sterilization solution
There are quite a few ways to make rose petal wine. I think I chose the simplest method out there, but I would be interested in adding some extra dimension by following some recommendations in other recipes, such as using some black tea, adding raisins or other dried fruits, or using grape juice to replace some of the water and sugar. You can check out a few methods: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I pretty much just did the basics– brewing the tea, adding sugar and lemon juice, and adding the yeast. While some methods call for soaking the petals for a day or two, mine was in the demijohns within a day.
Alright, let’s get to it.
Here’s What to Do:
1. Fill a stock pot with fresh water, and add the rose petals and cardamom pods to it.
2. Put the pot on the stove, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow the tea to cool. See how pale the petals become? All that gorgeous color is now yours.
3. Strain the liquid from the petals into another pot or brewing bucket. Press the liquid out of the rose petals, and compost them. Squeeze the juice from lemons into your liquid, and then add the sugar, stirring to dissolve.
4. Let you tea cool to body temperature, and add your yeast, sprinkling it on top of the mixture. Let that sit and dissolve for a couple of hours.
5. Decant your wine mixture evenly into two sterilized demijohns. Just look at that color! Add airlocks, and put it someplace dark with stable temperatures. I just put a dishtowel over mine, and keep it in the dining room.
6. Let it ferment, and rack it. The timing on this is not precise. Basically, you want to rack wine to remove sediments– the more times you rack it, the more clear your final wine will be. Since this is a sparkling wine, and I didn’t expect it to take that long to be ready, I actually didn’t rack it– but I probably should have done so at 3 weeks, when fermentation was slowing down. Racking is the process of moving the wine from one fermenting vessel to another, leaving behind yeasty lees and sediment. You do this with a syphon hose.
7. Taste it periodically, then bottle it. When it’s a bit sweeter than you want it to be, but getting reasonably close to your desired dryness, syphon your Rose Petal Wine into bottles. I bottled mine at about 5 weeks, but the yeast culture I was using was my home-grown one, and yours will behave differently than mine– so taste at least once a week (after 2 weeks) and make your own judgement. It is very important that you use swing-top bottles for this, since the brew will be building pressure as it digests the sugars. You risk having a big explosion in our home if you don’t use bottles that are designed to release small amounts of pressure.
8. Let it sit and ferment some more, and check on it. I put some wine into a regular wine bottle and corked it loosely– so I could open that up and taste it without releasing the fizz in the other bottles of wine. I recommend checking its progress this way! This part of the process took longer than I expected, but I have come to realize that my yeast culture was losing steam. If I had used a commercial yeast, I believe my wine would have finished much more quickly. So, this is the final step– you decide when it’s ready, according to dryness. Be aware that the longer you wait, the more pressure will have built up. I once let an apple cider sit for a long time, then lost almost the entire bottle to the “fountain effect” when I opened it (what I managed to save was deliciously dry and champagne-like though)– so just get involved and see where your brew is at now and then. Once you are getting to where you want to be, I would recommend moving your bottles someplace cool (fridge, even) to seriously slow the fermentation until you get around to drinking those bottles.
Check out all those tiny bubbles!
Enjoy!
Hazel says
Ariana, that looks delicious! There is masses of red clover in the field behind us, so as soon as it stops raining that’s destined to become wine 🙂 Pity you can’t make buttercup wine…
Ariana Mullins says
Hazel, have you made red clover wine? I know just the place where I could get unlimited amounts… Jeff is brewing an oak leaf wine that seems promising!
Valerie {all mussed up} says
Oh my goodness, beautiful!!
Ariana Mullins says
I love those dainty little bubbles in a sea of pink!
Our Neck of the Woods says
This sounds so delicious and the color is beautiful! I’ve never used dried rose petals but I am so intrigued by this I’ll have to try it!
Visiting from What To Do Weekends 🙂
Ariana Mullins says
Thanks for the visit! Yes, I think that being able to make it with dried roses is a huge bonus. Fresh would work, too, if you have a lot. Something I did with our lilacs in order to save enough fresh ones to make wine with was collecting them and freezing them through the blooming season. I’m sure you could do the same with fresh (organic) roses. Ordering dried ones is super easy, though!
Kath says
Hi! I am visiting from Wildcrafting Wednesday – wondering if you think it could be made with fresh rose petals? We made Rose Petal Jam recently:
https://thisonegoodlife.blogspot.com/2013/06/wild-rose-petal-jam.html
and we’re hooked on the flavor!
Ariana Mullins says
Yes, it can definitely be made with fresh petals… But I haven’t done it yet. Click on some of the links I referenced for measurements.
Linda Bouffard says
This is so completely wonderful!! I am in the process of making dandelion wine but I really think next year I’ll have it down pat. I know about the “explosion” part of it, too, since the guy at the wine/beer making store told me and I read another account online that said his bottles exploded! Thanks again and I’m PINNING this also. Linda Please come back with whatever wonderful posts you have….
https://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/06/what-to-do-weekends-25.html
Lynn says
Oh my, it’s so beautiful and would be so fun. Thanks for hosting The Farm Blog Hop.
Stephanie says
Hello,
I tried to comment before but it didnt post so I apologize if this comes up as a double posting.
I LOVE rose based recipes and I have access to copious amounts of very fragrant organic roses. I’ve never made anything like this so I’m trying to figure out what all I need.
What size of demijohns are you using? 2-3 gallons or 2-1 gallons?
How much yeast do you use per batch?
All the recipes just say to add yeast at a certain point but none say how much. A whole pack?
Thank you for your time and thank you for the recipe!
Ariana Mullins says
Hi Stephanie,
I am so glad you’ll be trying it! Our demijohns are 1-2 gallons. Good question on the yeast– I would do 1 tsp. per gallon. It’s often sold in sachets, and in that case I just put the whole thing in! But it’s usually about a tsp. anyway. Good luck!
Rose - The Clean Dish says
I am so impressed with your resourcefulness! Who wouldn’t want some Sparkling Rose Petal Wine?! 🙂
Could you use something other than refined sugar?
Thanks for sharing this incredible recipe with us!
Ariana Mullins says
Hi Rose!
You could use honey or raw sugar… I have used both in other ferments. Just keep in mind that it will change the flavor– in some cases, that’s a good thing, but for roses I wanted to keep the flavors a little more “pure.” Keep in mind that most of the sugar will be digested during the fermentation. Good luck!
Mississippi girl in Maitland says
So excited to make this! We have a 5 gallon carboy. Is that too big? Do we need demijohns instead? And I’m with Stephanie wondering how much yeast to use??
Ariana Mullins says
Hi Mississippi Girl. You can definitely use a 5 gallon carboy– they don’t need to be filled up all the way. I just left a comment for Stephanie– a good guide is 1 tsp. per gallon of brew. Good luck!
Mississippi girl in Maitland says
Thank you so much! Looking forward to making this soon!
Essie says
If you are planning on filling up the 5 gallon carboy, I would do 3-5 times this recipe, less if you want it drier and more is you want it sweet. But you could just do this recipe and not fill the carboy all of the way.
Lisa Lynn says
Looks yummy! Thanks so much for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you again today at:
https://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/06/the-homeacre-hop-25-exciting-news.html
Stop by and say hi to our new co-host!
PS: One of our hosts featured your post!
bellavistafarm says
Oh wow!!! I was jus tgoing to make rose petal syrup but this would be way more delicious. 🙂
Thanks for sharing on Wildcrafting Wednesday!
Crazyflorist says
He! @Ariana Mullins thanks for this lovely post. We are currently working on home made wine ideas to market purpose. Its a very helpful to us. We were trying to digg out some concept about wine making on internet.Mention some ideas on preservation.
Rose Petals says
I was looking for the information like this.. Thanks for sharing
Tammy Howe says
Hi Ariana, I am in Florida in the U.S. I just started a batch of your wonderful sparkling rose wine. I grow my own organic roses and an so excited to try this recipe! I am giving a talk at an organic rose gathering at the end of May and the gathering is featuring eating your roses ! I am hoping the wine will be ready so that every one attending may sample! Will write and let you know ! I’m sure it will be a hit.
I am traveling to Europe next summer to visit the beautiful rose gardens. In so excited! Thanks for recipe.
ariana says
Oh, this is fantastic! It will be such a treat for your attendees to sip some sparkling rose wine– I hope it’s ready in time, too! Thank you for letting me know. And I’m happy for you, that you’ll be coming to Europe this summer. How wonderful!
Norman says
Yes there are beautiful rose gardens in Europe. You could also look up rosedeschamps.com
Sheena says
So I just started a batch of this last week. But my concern and question is, how much faster would you recommend the first rack using commercial yeast?
The aroma of my home was beautiful during the simmer. I am so excited about this.
ariana says
Hi Sheena, I think I’d rack it after 2-3 weeks, once I saw a lot of sediment at the bottom.
HolisticHealthHerbalist says
This just looks BEAUTIFUL! I’m a huge fan of rose infused booze 🙂 Great recipe!
Roselit says
surely will make it.
thanks a lot dude
its awesome………..
Roselit says
wow its amazing.
will try it soon
thanks dude……..
sreeni says
thank y for your preparation method ..sreeni,kerala india
Joe says
How much wine does this recipe make?
Samarth Kohirkar says
Hello Ariana. I was going to prepare your rose petal wine. So should I use dried petals or the fresh one??
ariana says
I think dried petals are a great way to go.
Zakir Ahmed Opu says
Thats a great recipe! Thank you so much 😀
What are the percentage of alcohol in this wine? Did you measure it in any way?