Herbal Wines
Herb WinesDer gantzen Artzenei, Dryander, 1542
Herbal Wines are basically infusions of herbs in wine. The herbs are steeped in wine for a number of days, then strained, and kept for use. In some cases white wine is preferred, in others, red wine.
Also important is the quality of the wine. A dry, astringent wine is better for looseness or leakage, and as a carrier for astringent medicines. A sweet wine is better to strengthen. Often the specific type of wine was ordered based on its qualities.
Sometimes a Herbal Wine is made by boiling a herb in water, adding sugar and ferment (yeast), and leaving it to become a wine by fermentation.
The most commonly used wines were some of the simples, especially Wormwood and Rosemary wine. There were also many recipes for Hippocras, or spiced wine.
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Simple Wines Wormwood Wine Rosemary Wine Eyebright Wine Elecampane Wine Marjoram Wine |
Compound Wines Bitter Wine Hippocras Laudanum Stomach Wine Wine for Apoplexy Wine for Arthritis Wine for Catarrh Wind for Catarrh of Pope Adrian Wine for Edema Wine (Potion) for Headache (Galen) Wine for Incontinence Wine for Scrophula (Renodeus) Wine of Eyebright and Fennel Wine of Sage Compound |