Possible re-invented Falernian??

[Rotafire]

Since I am portraying a Roman persona, I would like to see if I can re-invent/re-create Falernian (type) wine for consumption at events. I thought a white grape pyment might be an appropriate and fun drink for this purpose.
I found the below recipe, and thought I might modify it a little.
5 gallons:
Ingredients
9 lbs honey
Four 12oz cans white grape juice concentrate
5 tsp yeast nutrient
1/3 oz grap tannin
2 1/2 oz malic acid
Sauternes yeast
Boil honey and water until it stops foaming, then add remainder of ingredients except yeast, and turn off the heat. Let cool and pitch yeast when approx 70-80 degrees F.
Rack into a secondary after one month. After 2 more months, rack again and taste. At this point, I found it dry and so added 1 lb of honey to the 5 gallon batch. After 2 more months, rack again, and taste. if you like, bottle it, otherwise let it sit some more.
I thought instead of the Sauternes yeast, I would use D47, K1v-1116, or a champagne yeast. And I would not boil the honey. I would probably mix the juice concentrate with a little water and boil that. Perhaps add some white raisins for the extra sugars. Cutting this down to a 1 gallon test batch is another idea.
If it is a little rough, meh. More a high ABV%. It probably won't be aged the 15-20 years like the original was, so to get the darker amber color, I figured on using a dark honey.
Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[Bob1016]

You can make an estougha (can never remember how to spell that word) and cook it like mediera. Or you could let it sit in a half full container to oxidize like a sherry.
Medsen has a thread on here about a medeira style mead, and having tasted it, I can say it works very well.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I've intentionally oxidized a batch or two to get that sherry-like quality.

A 1-gal test batch is a really good idea when you're fine-tuning a recipe. Make sure you keep good logs!

Oh, and leave out the malic acid until fermentation's done, then decide if you need it for taste... You'll come to know soon enough that early acid additions are a component of "unenlightented" (old!) mead recipes, which follow the thought that you need to add acidity to make it be like grape juice, not recognizing that honey has its own acidity and that adding more can get you into trouble with stressed yeast (sulphur smells) and stuck ferments.

 

[skunkboy]

aged 15-20 years? Ouch...

 

[Medsen Fey]

Well, to be really authentic, you might track down some aglianico grapes. Technically, I think it was made with grapes but not honey, though I suppose they might have used some to get the gravity up. You probably want to aim for 15+% ABV.

You can definite get the Madeira character by using an estufa. If you search the term "Meadeira" you'll find a thread where I describe the process in the Patron's meadlogs.