Nocino (Green Walnut Liqueur) & Vin de Noix

[olivina]

Here I go again. I just received 20 pounds of green from Mt. Lassen. Last year I got 2 pounds...

Ten times more nocino sounds alright to me!

[FoodMan]

I got the walnuts today in addition to some walnut leaves in the package. Both the Vin De Noix and the Nocino have been set up. I went by the recipe I linked to upthread and used a drinkable cheap red wine and brandy, added cloves, vanilla bean and walnut leaves. I tasted a little bit of the mixture for the vin and I know it is way early, but it tasted a little too sweet. How sweet should it be? Should I add any more wine to it maybe? Anyways, now it is resting for a couple of months and then we'll see. Here are some pics:

Elie

[FoodMan]

My first Nocino batch has just been mixed up. I used Artusi's recipe with grain alcohol (Everclear), crushed cinnamon and cloves. I will also probably add lemon peel in a few days. Forty days or so from now it should be ready and I will post more pics hopefully.

Elie

[FoodMan]

Here is a pic of both the Vin De Noix and Nocino:

[MikeInSacto]

Here's what mine looks like. It's been in the jar since June 6.

Doesn't look like much - you can't see anything in there now.

I'm not sure how long I plan to leave it. I went 60 days last year and got a really excellent drink out of it.

Mike

[ScorchedPalate]

Just as I was lamenting that all this moving nonsense had distracted me from ordering green walnuts and making nocino this year, I found green walnuts this morning at the Alemany Farmer's Market! The farmer who was selling them had recipes for vin de noix and nocino taped to the box they were in.

So my first-ever batch is sitting on the window ledge now -- the sunniest spot in the apartment, 28 stories over downtown -- waiting for the end of the month when we will move into our new house and have a yard again... where it can steep properly in the sun.

Now I only hope it's half as good as the batch Olivina made last year. :)

~A

[olivina]

I have 15 green walnuts left from my nocino extravaganza. The nuts have a few brownish spots and I regret not seeing the suggestion to keep them in the fridge. They don't smell rancid..what do you all think? Should I make a little vin de noix with them? Out of the million french recipes that Abra led us to, which one didn't someone make so I can report on another?

Goin' a little nutty,

Carla

[trillium]

I don't think the brownish spots are a problem, as long as they still smell ok. If you don't want to make something alcoholic, peel the nuts and lightly pickle the nutmeats to eat with charcuterie.

regards,

trillium

[Abra]

Beautiful pictures, Elie. It is a dessert wine, so it should be sweet. I think the tannins in the walnuts will balance that out eventually, though.

[bleudauvergne]

I have got some nuts and will do something with them tonight.

[Wolfert]

I have 15 green walnuts left from my nocino extravaganza. The nuts have a few brownish spots and I regret not seeing the suggestion to keep them in the fridge. They don't smell rancid..what do you all think? Should I make a little vin de noix with them? 

When you cut up the walnuts to make the wine, just dump the blackish parts .

I

[trillium]

Beautiful pictures, Elie.  It is a dessert wine, so it should be sweet.  I think the tannins in the walnuts will balance that out eventually, though.

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Dessert wine? Hmmm...I've only drunk it as an apéritif, it's a great match with something salty and briney, like anchovy or olive toasts. The tannins will kick in, and things taste less sweet when they're chilled. I like mine chilled and poured over a couple of ice cubes. All that aside, I usually cut back the sugar in ours because I like it more on the bitter side of bittersweet.

regards,

trillium

[olivina]

I have got some nuts and will do something with them tonight.

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That sounds kind of funny..

[bleudauvergne]

I have got some nuts and will do something with them tonight.

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That sounds kind of funny..

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Oh la la.

I had to special order them from a vendor at the market, you usually don't see these at the market here in Lyon.

OK I wear gloves, cut them up, put them in a large vessel with some eau de vie and some wine and some sugar and put it in a covered vessel the sun for a few months, stirring something like once a week?

[FoodMan]

I have got some nuts and will do something with them tonight.

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That sounds kind of funny..

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Oh la la.

I had to special order them from a vendor at the market, you usually don't see these at the market here in Lyon.

OK I wear gloves, cut them up, put them in a large vessel with some eau de vie and some wine and some sugar and put it in a covered vessel the sun for a few months, stirring something like once a week?

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more or less...see the recipe I linked to upthread. I added a vanilla bean, cloves and walnut leaves.

Elie

[bleudauvergne]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to talk anyone out of an ancient family recipe so I'm winging it this year. I also tried to get my friend in Grenoble to get me the nuts and she acted like I was crazy. I like the idea of a vanilla bean, and I'm going to use eau de vie and add something else, haven't decided yet. Not too much sugar, though. I don't think I'll be able to do mine in a jar, I'll have to use a big huge bowl, hope it's still good if it sits in the dark because I'm going to put it in the cave. Only one month? What if we let it sit for 2 months?

[bleudauvergne]

What would happen if we added some maple syrup? Would it ruin everything?

[Abra]

Lucy, would you comment on the aperetif/dessert wine question? What I had in Provence, and brought back with me, was really too sweet for aperetif. It made a delicious dessert wine, and would have been fabulous with a cheese course.

I base my too sweet comment on a comparison with Lillet, which is just about as sweet as I'd like to go for an aperetif - the vin de noix was quite a bit sweeter.

[bleudauvergne]

I also feel that Vin de Noix is very sweet in general. But then again it is very common to see sweet wines offered at aperetif and also at dessert. It's a question of personal preference, really. I like my vin de noix after dinner, but I think my husband would take his at aperetif.

Mine's together now. We'll see in a couple of months how it works out.

Lucy's mix:

38 green walnuts, quartered

1 vanilla bean

2 star anise

2 long peppercorns

2 thick slices of lemon (inspired from Divina's nocino recipe)

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup grade B maple syrup

2 cups Noilly Pratt Original Dry

1 quart vodka (I didn't have any eau de vie and I don't want to wait until tomorrow!)

Smells divine.

edited to add that I am sealing off the top of the bowl. My mother in Law does her vin d'orange in a big bowl as well.

Edited July 7, 2005 by bleudauvergne (log)

[cdh]

Just an update on the project: After two weeks the little walnuts I used had come nowhere near to turning the solution dark, much less black. It was a very pleasant bourbon colored liquid, which didn't seem right. So I picked another handful of walnuts off of the tree that had two weeks more maturation on them. Now the liquid is darkening, though is still not going to pass for motor oil.

A question for other nocino makers- Are your walnuts English or Black? My walnuts are Black, and much rounder than the oblong things pictured here... Do we know whether one or the other type makes a better nocino?

[ScorchedPalate]

Mine definitely looks like motor oil now, although it was still transparent (albeit dark) until a few days ago.

The farmer I bought my nuts from simply had them listed as "green walnuts". The California Walnut Commission says that all cultivated California walnut species are of the English variety, while native plants are likely to be Black walnuts. Mine definitely look like the photos of English walnuts (smooth, speckled, and distinctly egg-shaped), and not like Black walnuts (lightly textured and rounder):

English Walnut (Cornell Horticulture)

Black Walnut (forestryimages.org)

~A

Edited July 7, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[olivina]

Now I only hope it's half as good as the batch Olivina made last year. :) 

~A

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Anita, Thanks for the compliment but I don't think I had anything to do with how good the nocino turned out. I followed Trillium's directions and chopped green walnuts, added a vanilla bean and some 100 proof...a nut, a bean and some moonshine.

I did add a little anxiety, worry and self-doubt last year but didn't have those ingredients on hand this year. uh oh...

Carla

[Abra]

I want to add that if you read French, there's a HUGE thread running over 2 years about how to make vin de noix. There are hundreds of variations given there, including a lot of grandparent-inspired recipes. French vin de noix thread.

I have my nuts and leaves (thanks Jim Dixon!!!) and am now looking for some sort of gigantic container to make the stuff in.

[olivina]

I want to add that if you read French, there's a HUGE thread running over 2 years about how to make vin de noix.  There are hundreds of variations given there, including a lot of grandparent-inspired recipes.  French vin de noix thread.

I have my nuts and leaves (thanks Jim Dixon!!!) and am now looking for some sort of gigantic container to make the stuff in.

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Abra, I found really large canning jars (very cool ones) at The Madison Park old fashioned hardware store. About 10 bucks. They also had cooler ones for 28 bucks (too much for me).

I looked at the usual kitchen stores with no luck.

The other thing I did was go to Cash and Carry and bought maraschino cherries (yuck) in large glass pickle jars. All of the other usable food stuff was in plastic. 12 bucks...

[Abra]

I think I just had a brilliant idea! 5 gallon water-cooler bottles! I can easily and cheaply get a food-grade plastic one at the supermarket, and that way I'll be able to make a double batch with no worries about spilling over.

Now, my next project is to call our local winery and ask if he'll sell me two gallons of decent red right out of the barrel, which should be a good savings too. I noticed on that French board that they were talking about using very inexpensive wines, like in the $3-7/bottle range. Any bottle that price here is vile, of course, but I'm thinking that barrel wine, not quite finished, might be comparable.