has anyone ever made green walnut wine vin de noix?

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MyZooTwo

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Has anyone ever tried making green walnut wine? I have found several recipes for it, but in all of them they seem to be making an infusion more than a wine. They use red wine or vodka and soak the green walnuts in them. I would like to try making green walnut wine this spring using the green walnuts as a base ingredient for the wine. Just wondering if anyone else has ever tried it and how it worked out.
 
I haven't tried it but I think I will. I've never seen a recipe for it but will look for one.

I have several kinds of wine aging now. Potatoe, sweet potatoe, orange, milk and honey (mead). The only wine I ever made that I couldn't drink was tomatoe/onion. That was nasty stuff.

Good luck.
 
One of the French guys at work has made it, he said it's been in the carboy two years now without being touched. He checked it recently when he was back in France on holidays and says it's looking good. I might get him to bring it back the next time he goes over and offer to bottle it for him.

I'll ask him for the recipe on Monday if I think of it.
 
Thank you both for your help, I've been temped by vin de noix since I first read about it. It sounds awesome and I have a fence row of walnut trees. It is definately on my list of spring wines I'd like to start.
Tomato onion sounds like some precarious stuff, I've made wine out of quite a few off the wall things, but never onions :) But hey, you never know until you try it, kudos for daring to be different! Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I'm still trying to figure out what could possibly make yellow root taste good, I'd love to capture that color in a wine.
I'd love to hear about your co-worker's recipe. I'm worried about overwhelming the wine or under flavoring it with the walnuts.
Thanks again to both of you,
Take care...
Cathy
 
Ok I've spoken to my colleague, he doesn't have the recipe off the bat, but he says he'll do his best to get it, no guarantees, but I'll post back here with the recipe should he get it for me.
 
Thank you for your help Eoin, I truely appreciate it.

I have been checking out some of the infusion recipes online, if we can't find an already used recipe I think I'm going to experiment. I think the addition of a vanilla stick and perhaps the juice of an orange sounds like it might be good to try in one batch. Some call for cinnamon and cloves, spiced green walnut wine might be quite interesting! It might make good weed killer too, never know until you try :)
 
Looking at the wiki article for yellowroot, I'd think it's only smart to make a brew of it for medicinal purposes and not for anything else, it's toxic.

wikipedia said:
While yellowroot is toxic in large doses, a reason why deer do not eat it, it has been used to adulterate or as a substitute for Hydrastis canadensis. Native Americans made a tea and drank it for ulcers in the mouth and in the stomach. It may have also been used as a tonic, and externally on sores. Native Americans also used it to treat various skin ailments. According to Foster & Duke (1998), the plant contains berberine which is anti-inflammatory, astringent, hemostatic, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, immunostimulant, uterotonic and can produce a transient drop in blood pressure. In addition it stimulates the secretion of bile and bilirubin which may be helpful in cirrhosis of the liver.

<edit> thinking about it with the cirrhosis treatment it seems to entail, it could be the perfect occasional tipple for the ardent homebrewer ;)
 
LOL you are right, we all have been hard on our livers, haven't we! :mug:
It is a strong medicinal, mostly known for it's antibiotic properties. I only want to use a rootlet or two for the beautiful color. I have ground up more than that and gave it to a macaw with an ovarian infection and it cleared her up.
Incidently, I see you are from Dublin, my family is in Doneraile, Co. Cork, my parents and myself moved here when I was young. :D
 
I know this is an old thread, but ...

Vin de Noix:
Place the following in each 1.5 liter jar:

About 10 green walnuts each jar , quartered (warning; walnut skins stain everything they touch so you will want to wear gloves, and cut on a non-porous cutting surface). I use a plastic board and scrub th board and knife immediately afterwards with hot soapy water.
1/4 to 1/2 cup vodka (however strong you want to make the final product)
You will need a bit of sweetness; you can make a simple syrup (sugar disolved in water) or other sweetener, I used maple syrup:
1/2 cup (grade B maple syrup)
1/3 vanilla bean
2 whole cloves
1/2 piece of a cinnamon stick
1/2 of a star anise
1 teaspoon Schezwan peppercorns, or 2 cracked black peppercorns
2 slices of an orange
1 or 2 walnut leaves (depending upon size)
1 or 2 lemon leaves
Then fill jars the rest of the way with a red wine. Something non-sweet like a Zinfandel or Merlot. It will take about 5 (750ml) bottles to fill all 6 of the jars to the top.

In order to turn it's beautiful deep black color the mix needs contact with oxygen so don't cap tightly.

Allow the jars to age, in a cool, dark place.

After 2 months of the initial aging, filter and bottle the vin de noix. Seal the bottles, and allow to mature for another month or two. At that point it is drinkable, however I always age mine longer; until Thanksgiving and beyond to give as Christmas gifts.

Do taste it along the way to check the progress, it will go from strongly medicinal, then will even out a bit, and eventually will become deep, dark and much smoother.


---- The longer it sits after steeping, the better it gets. I absolutely love making it and waiting a year or two before drinking it. Yes, the green walnuts are added in to steep with an already brewed wine. You do need some alcohol added to help extract the oils and flavors from the nuts. What you are making is a flavored, fortified wine. I have tried making it without added alcohol and it simply did not work. I did talk a vintner into trying this without fortifying it once, to put on sale, but we simply could not get it to work without adding liquor.
 
The American Mead Makers group has a epub mag with an article on this in an earlier version, we have to many walnuts around and wanted to give this a try, thanks, WVMJ
 
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