Making homemade blackberry and blueberry wine

 On September 29th, I began fermenting two very small bottles of wine: one blackberry and one blueberry. Simple ingredients: the fruit, sugar, and water. At this point, they are still fermenting in bottles with caps loosened on them. I give each bottle a shake every other day. 

I am trying to achieve a fruit wine that is less sweet than most currently available commercially produced fruit wine. 

2013 Cakebread Chardonnay

To my delight, I recently acquired a bottle of 2013 Cakebread Chardonnay, and it is my delight to share a blog post about it. It is a rare treat for me.  I remember the very first time that I ever tasted Cakebread Chardonnay, years ago. An acquaintance of mine had taken a business trip to the Napa Valley wine region in California, and he brought me a bottle from the winery. Being a self- proclaimed Chardonnay Girl when it comes to wine. I thought it was the best Chardonnay that I had ever tasted. I did some checking at local grocery stores (not available here, in large part). Next I checked local restaurants. It was indeed available at the more upscale ones, to the tune of $75 a bottle! I had never had any wine that cost $75 a bottle in my life! I did enjoy it, but it is not a staple for me, due to my finances. All the more reason to share a blog post about the special wine that I am enjoying. Sante! 

Happy National Drink Wine Day!

It's National Drink Wine Day! Hope all my fellow winelovers out there are enjoying their favorite wine to mark the occasion! Being a Chardonnay girl myself, I am savoring a glass of chilled La Crema Chardonnay! Salut! 

Spanish Macabeo wine: My first tasting

 In the Winter Wines Advent calendar that I had gotten at Lidl, and have been enjoying my way through during this time, today's wine is a Macabeo white wine from Spain! It is just wonderful! It is very smooth, and medium-bodied. I am truly glad I have made its acquaintance. 

In looking online about this grape that I hadn't heard of before, I learned that most Macabeo is produced in Spain, with France in the number two slot. Apparently the grapes are used primarily in white wine blends. 

A huge proportion of Macabeo comes from the Rioja region of Spain, where the locals call it Viura. The nearby Navarra region calls it this, as well. 

In France, most Macabeo is from the Languedoc region. 

I promise I will be looking for more Macabeo in my local area! A delightful find, courtesy of Lidl!

Homemade Spiced Pear Wine

 I started a small batch of homemade spiced pear wine tonight. I took two very ripe Seckel pears, added white sugar and water, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, and covered it with a cloth towel to ferment.

Homemade Muscadine Ice Wine with Lemon Balm

 

I am trying to make a lower sugar muscadine ice wine with dried lemon balm. I hadn't considered an ice wine out of muscadines until I left my fermenting muscadines in a location where they froze. Voila!

Homemade Muscadine Wine

Yesterday evening, I started a very small batch of muscadine wine with some extremely overripe muscadines. I crushed the grapes with my hands ina stainless bowl, added a small amount of sugar and water, and covered the bowl with a cotton towel. I am leaving it under my carport, as it will be cooler than if I kept it inside. I am hoping to achieve a drier muscadine wine this time. 

On November 11, I added some water, and some fresh lemon balm leaves, and squeezed the hulls of the muscadines.