I decided to make my Rose Petal Wine in roughly the same way I made the Dandelion Wine (link) and my Violet Wine. Using my own roses, I knew they had not been treated with any chemicals.
After picking my roses I put them into a crock and heated a half gallon of water on the stove to boiling. I then poured the boiling water over them to steep. While I left the dandelions for a couple days, I didn't do so with the rose petals because as you can see from the photos, the boiling water got all the color out of them right away, and there isn't much flavor to impart so that was immediate as well. As a matter of fact, it was obvious that roses are part of the cabbage family as I could definitely note a cabbage undertone.
After the boiling water the petals were quick to lose their color.
After just 1 afternoon of seeping them, I strained and drained them, discarding the used petals and keeping the rose water.
After I added;
5 cups of sugar
1/2 t ginger
1/4 c lemon juice
1 t dried orange peel
I then decided to add 1 T frozen cranberry juice concentrate to deepen the rose shade just a bit.
I warmed it briefly on the stove while I started about 2 teaspoons of yeast in a cup with a bit of warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. Most people just add the yeast direct, but starting it has yielded really good results with my other two wines so I did this one too. Your liquid can't be 'hot' or it will kill the yeast, so barely warm, I added the frothy yeast, stirred, and then poured into a clean, sterilized jug. Topped off with a washed out balloon with a couple holes pricked into it, it went into the closet with the Violet Wine to ferment and bubble for a few weeks.
The Dandelion Wine was bottled. The Violet Wine is on the tail end of fermenting as the bubbles and gas have almost ceased. The Rose Petal Wine is fermenting and smells heavenly. It seriously smells so good! Even to someone who isn't a big wine drinker. Somehow making my OWN wines makes me want to drink them all that much more!
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