Re: Winemaking. This year I have decided to give up on this "pour x gallons boiling water over berries". Why do recipes stipulate this? Surely it isn't part of "proper" wine making, they just crush 'em. I have just started plum, redcurrant and elderberry with PURE JUICE plus sugar to make up the specific gravity - we will see how they come out... We once made three batches of plum wine from a particularly prolific tree, and the more fruit/less water we used the better the wine was, so I'm taking it to its logical conclusion!
Re: Straining. I have also swiftly developed a method of straining where I put my two layer steamer together with a nylon straining bag lining the second layer. It's much faster and cleaner than ladling the whole lot into a bag.
Re: Catty smell. My mother always used to say that you shouldn't gather elderberries where the dogs could pee on the bushes because it would taint them. Sounds like another explanation for the same effect, this year was the first time I heard the "two sorts" theory. Mind you, HER mother used to swear they were deadly poisonous, which is odd considering she was Land Girl.

Jennifer