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Pick any elderberries and freeze until enough have been sourced.
Cold soak for three to five days in a sterile covered pan or container in the fridge in two litres of water and a crushed campden tablet to kill any wild yeasts.
On the penultimate day of cold soak, boil the rest of the water to sterilize and leave to get to room temperature. Mash the berries and combine the next day.
Add pectic enzyme and leave for 12 to 24 hours.
Stir in the sugar to 1.09SG, lemon juice then the yeast.
Ferment for two days in primary then press the juice – a good manual squeeze in cleaned hands is perfectly good (A press does wonders though) The juice can simply return to the primary fermenter and then continue to ferment.
Filter into demijohn to remove any rogue seeds or skins that may have stayed and ferment in secondary with an airlock.
Rack after five weeks then two months after that to remove sediment. The wine wants to age at least six months after pitching the yeast.
Stabilise if necessary and back sweeten if desired.
Bottle and wait for at least two years before having a little taste test.