Surely I am not alone in first hearing about elderberries from that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the irritable French guard taunts Arthur, Patsy, and company with “your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”. I have laughed at this scene countless times despite not having tasted elderberries. It was funny and I just basically moved on to the next joke because they come at you in a steady stream in that movie.
But not everyone enjoyed the joke and simply moved on to the next one. John Brewer, his wife Beth, and his sister Merry really took elderberries to heart. They opened Wyldewood Cellars in 1995 out in Kansas and made elderberry wine. Their website says that they were moved to do so by nostalgia for the acres of elderberries grown on John and Merry's mom's ranch and the wine made from them. I suspect that the webmaster merely forgot to note the role of Monty Python in the story.
Over the past 27 years, they have branched out to other kinds of wines as well as meads. But they still offer elderberry wines and even sell elderberry concentrate. (You've gotta dance with the one that brung ya.) These folks seem to have elderberry juice in their veins. In 2010 they exported their sambucuphilia to east central Illinois and opened an outpost in St. Joseph.
And so last fall when I found myself at a liquor store in suburban Chicago, I ran across Wyldewood meads. As if the prospect of fruit-laced honey wine wasn't enough, I found that they offered their meads in 4-packs of 6.3oz(?) bottles. Not only that, they offered variety 4-packs so I could try various flavors. But I had to start with elderberry.
The elderberry is apparently a denizen of the Northern Hemisphere. It has a very tart flavor so no one picks them fresh and pops them into their mouth. In addition, they contain things called lectins which prevent your digestive system from absorbing nutrients and induce symptoms like those from food poisoning. I have found nothing to indicate that they smell bad, however.
Wyldewood's Elderberry Mead is a lovely deep ruby hue and clear. It is still, in mead parlance, that is, no fizz. I say this in the most loving way: it smelt of elderberries. Honestly and truly. Kind of like raspberries. It also had, in tautological fashion, a vinous aroma. Think red (grape) wine. My notes say "hint of vinegar" but I don't mean this in a bad way. I like to drink vinegar. Here I was referring to a slight astringency.
My first sip revealed a sweet wine with a medium-heavy body. The honey had a nice floral taste to it instead of a more earthy one and I discovered that elderberries taste akin to raspberries and their tartness. If elderberries are as tart as I have read they are, then this must have been a very sweet mead indeed. I prefer dry meads but this one was sweet - but not cloying. I think the berry tartness kept it from being too syrupy. That honeyed sweetness lingered a bit on the finish as some tannin dryness crept in.
This is a mighty fine ruby restorative. The elderberries were very tasty and paired with the honey well. It was sweet but there were enough tannins and berry tartness to keep things from spiraling into a treacley mess. I also really liked the mead's smoothness on the palate.
Junk food pairing: Since this is a wine and wine is fancy, you will want to go upscale with your food pairing. I recommend a box of Cheez-It Duoz Bacon and Cheddar crackers.
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