Just wondering

Hi Karen, never had rose hip wine, I've had rose hip syrup years ago, that's very sweet, so I would imagine the wine would be too, Derek.

Yes, and disgustingly sweet it was too!

Aree the syrup is grossly sweet, can't, personally, see a reason to make a wine from rose hips but if you want to try good luck!

I disagree. I've made rose hip wine and it can be quite dry. The sugar, and invariably the sweetness, turns to alcohol during fermentation. The only way it ends up being sweet is because people tend add too much sugar at the start of the fermentation. The yeast will only ferment the sugars out until it hits its maximum alcohol level. Any remaining sugars will stay in the wine as residual sweetness.

Having said that, rose hip syrup does make a very nice sweet desert wine if that's what you want. If you want a sweet wine, just make sure you use a lot of rose hips to give it some body as there's nothing worst than a sweet thin wine. I would also suggest that you don't just use rose hips and sugar alone as it will taste insipid, but add some grape juice or raisins to give the wine some vinosity.

One other point. Rose hips contain lots of vitamin C, so you won't feel as guilty drinking one or two glasses more than you should as you can always tell yourself that it's beneficial to your health. ;o)

Myron, thank you so much, that is really useful and interesting advice! I don't have enough of the right roses for collecting hips at the moment, but one day I am going to have a go at making wine of some kind, and I thought Rose Hip might be lovely, if I can get it to ferment properly as you say, so it's not too sweet. That dessert wine comment also brings on another idea....Rose Hip Gin?

Karen when I was a kid growing up when had a sore throat before tonsils removed was given rosehip syrup.

Also rosehip tea ment to be nice .

Don't drink Gin so can't say be good or not.

Rose hp gin could work but usually better with a more bitter fruit - think sloes. Black current gin certainly works :)

Blackcurrant gin sounds lovely MG.

It is I promise you Karen… Also some of the botanical gins made at Scottish distilleries could almost be sipped as as a digestif. There are a couple our local Sainsbury's carries that tempt both Bulba and self.

My favourite is Polish Wisniowka (cherry vodka). Just steep cherries in vodka for a month or two and add some sugar to taste. The leftover cherries can also be used to put in a cake.

I've steeped lots of fruits in vodka, lemon peel to make Limoncello, orange for Cointreau and even pear drop sweets (Kruskovac)... Yummy. I've not tried steeping rose hips yet, but I think that I might try it as I'm sure it will work well.

Myron manŷ years ago I enjoyed Cointreau but after tasting Limoncello while in holiday in Tuscany so prefer Limoncello.

It's so, so easy to make. Just lemon peel, (that's usually discarded), vodka and sugar and steep for a few months.

When it's done, keep it in the freezer and drink it ice cold in small glasses.

Whoa! This is turning really interesting! :)) I am a fan of these botanical gins too MG. We are working our way through them, one at a time!

Enjoy Karen… there is one from a Moray distillery called Gilt - well worth a try!

Will look out for that one, thanks!