[Sca-cooks] non-grape period wines

[Mark S. Harris]

Talana replied to me with:
<<< My sentence ran:

Also, the riper the quince, the more flavor it has, which is likely
why the quince wine recipe from Farley's "Art of London Cookery" calls
for fully ripe quinces.

I was saying that the ripeness desired for wine most likely has to do  
with peak flavor. >>>

Or is that really "sweetest flavor", rather than "peak flavor"? Or  
would most period folks consider them the same? Some of the comments  
in my wine-msg file seem to indicate that sweetness might be the  
property most sought in wines.

wine-msg         (146K)  1/29/09  Medieval wines.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/wine-msg.html

Can someone post the recipe for this quince wine from this "Farley's  
Art of London Cookery"? When was this printed?

While I have a few non-grape wine recipes, it appears that most period  
wines, as today?, were made from grapes. Although some, like pears and  
apples, get their own name. We tend to say apple cider or perry, not  
apple wine or pear wine.  I do have recipes for dandelion wine and a  
few other non-grape wines. Does anyone know of other references to or  
recipes for non-grape wine?

And I'm not talking about wassail or hyppocras which often start with  
grape wine, just with other stuff added.

Has anyone tried to make wine from medlars? Several years ago I got  
this email, but again, so far it is only a single person's opinion.

 From the Florilegium wine-msg file:
<<<
From: soh at inm.mod.uk
Date: Wed Jul 9, 2003  6:19:29 AM US/Central
To: "'stefan at florilegium.org'" <stefan at florilegium.org>
Subject: Medlar

I have just come across your website.
I have a medlar tree outside my office window.
A few years ago, a colleague made Medlar wine from its fruit and I  
think that it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tried to drink !

So if anyone is thinking of winemaking with the Medlar fruit - DON'T  
is my advice !!!

Steve Moore
Gosport, England >>>

Stefan
======
Mark S. Harris
Electronics Engineer, Board and Systems Design
MarkSHarris at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris