How to Make Elderflower Wine – Easy Homemade Recipe

This elderflower wine recipe produces a beautifully fragrant, light, and floral homemade wine.

Using dried elderflowers, this method is simple yet full of delicate flavours, making it ideal for both beginner and experienced homebrewers.

Whether you prefer a crisp dry wine or a slightly sweet variation, this guide will take you step-by-step through how to make elderflower wine at home.

What is Elderflower Wine?

Elderflower wine is a light, floral homemade wine made from dried or fresh elderflowers.

It has a delicate, citrusy aroma with subtle honey and fruity notes.

As a naturally low-tannin wine, elderflower wine ferments into a smooth and refreshing white wine, which can be enjoyed dry or semi-sweet.

The floral flavours mature beautifully with aging, making it a unique addition to any homebrewer’s collection.

Essential Equipment Needed for Elderflower Wine

Before you start, ensure you have the right winemaking equipment. This will make the process smoother and help prevent contamination.

• Fermentation vessel (demijohn or food-grade plastic bucket) – Needed for primary fermentation.
• Secondary fermentation vessel - A glass demijohn for racking and clarifying wine.
• Sterilizer & cleaner – To sanitize all equipment before use.
• Airlock & bung – Allows gases to escape while preventing contamination.
• Siphon tube – Used for transferring wine without disturbing sediment.
• Hydrometer – Measures Specific Gravity (SG) to track fermentation progress.
• Fine-mesh strainer or muslin bag – For filtering rose petals after steeping.
• Glass Wine bottles with corks or swing top bottles – For aging and storing the wine.

Tip: If you're new to winemaking, consider a winemaking starter kit to get all the essential equipment in one package.

Ingredients to make 1 Demijohn - 5 Litres

• Dried Elderflowers 20-25g
• 1 kg Brewing Sugar
• 250ml white grape concentrate
• 5g citric acid
• 5g grape tannin
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 wine yeast packet
• 4.5L Water

Optional Ingredients

• Campden tablets (sodium metabisulfite) – Prevents oxidation & works with potassium sorbate to stop fermentation.
• Potassium sorbate – Prevents yeast from multiplying and preserves the wine (must be used with Campden tablets).
• Bentonite – A natural fining agent, slower but effective for clearing wine.
• Wine finings – Works faster than bentonite but contains sulphites and is derived from crustaceans.
• Wine sweetener – A non-fermentable sugar for back-sweetening without restarting fermentation.

Day 1

• Empty your flowers into a sterilised fermenting bucket.
• Bring 2 litres of water to a boil and add this to your bucket.
• Add one crushed Campden tablet.
• Using a sterilised spoon mix the florets at least twice a day for two days. 

Day 3 

• On the third day, dissolve the sugar in 1 litre of warm water and pour it into a sterilised demijohn.
• Strain off the flowers adding the liquid from the bucket to the demijohn.
• Add the citric acid, grape tannin and yeast nutrient to the demijohn.
• Top up the demijohn with 1 litre of cold water you should now have approx 4 litres of liquid in your demijohn now.
• Sprinkle on the yeast fit an airlock and bung and leave to ferment for 3 - 5 days at 18-22 °C.

Day 7 - 9

• After the initial burst of fermentation, add in the white grape concentrate.
• Top up to the shoulder with cool water if necessary you should have approx 4.5 litres in the demijohn.
• Allow a further 5 - 10 days or until the fermentation is complete. (When the airlock stops bubbling)

If you prefer a sweeter wine you should monitor the gravity reading during this stage of fermentation.
Once your hydrometer reading reaches 1004-1008 add a crushed Campden tablet - this will kill off the yeast and halt fermentation.
Alternatively, you could ferment it until dry (giving you more ABV) and then sweeten it using a non-fermenting artificial sweetener.

After Fermentation

• Using a hydrometer you should have a gravity reading of 994-998 for two consecutive days.
• Syphon into a sterilised demijohn, seal it with an airlock and leave it in a cool place to clear before bottling.
• It will naturally clear over time depending on the ambient temperature.
• Once it is clear, you should syphon it off the sediment and transfer it into your wine bottles.

If you are in a hurry you can speed up the clearing process by using wine findings.

How to make Elderflower Champagne

Normal wine bottles are not strong enough to withstand the pressure, and so we recommend only using Champagne Bottles, Swing Top Grolsch Style Bottles or PET Bottles.

• The most reliable way is to wait until the fermentation has diminished, and the hydrometer reading has dropped below 1.000
• Preferably in the 994-998 range and stable for two consecutive days.
• Make up a syrup solution of 20g of sugar in 60ml of warm water and then distribute it evenly amongst your bottles.
• 60ml should be sufficient for 6 x 750ml bottles, and 80ml of syrup if using 500ml bottles.
• The finished champagne will be quite dry, so you will need to sweeten it to taste with a non-fermenting sugar if you prefer.