このレシピはＤちゃんからもらいました

最初はＤちゃんの家でＤちゃんの特製黒酢梅酒を飲んだとき、すごく感心しました

その味はとっても深かった、飲んだことありませんでした

そして、自分で同じ黒酢梅酒も作り見ました

材料はちょっと高めです

おいしいなウィスキーや黒酢や梅や黒砂糖を使いました

普通の梅酒と比べて、味は全然違います

濃い味はとっても深いです

本当においしいです

これ特製梅酒はもっと長い時間が経過しましたなら、もっと深い味になります

楽しみにしています

梅酒が大好き！！

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]]> http://nikonikoshite.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/%e6%89%8b%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a%e6%a2%85%e9%85%92/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000 shereen http://nikonikoshite.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/%e6%89%8b%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a%e6%a2%85%e9%85%92/

梅酒が大好きから

日本に来た以来、一番作ってみたかったものは梅酒です

しかし、梅の季節は一年一回だけです

いつも梅の季節に間に合わなかったから

作りたいけど、作れなかった

最初日本に来た以来三年間縁がなかったです

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今年は本気に絶対梅酒を作りたいです

花見と梅雨の間に梅のことを注意しました

ついに今年は初めての梅酒を作りました

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これは6月前手作った梅酒です

二週間前に始めて飲みました

とってもおいしかったです！！！

すごく感動しました

梅酒大成功です！

.

もう決めました

もし日本に住んだら、毎年自分好きな梅酒を作ります

自分で作った梅酒を飲むときはとっても幸せな時間です

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追：もうひとつのタイプの梅酒も作りました、もうすぐ書きます。ちょっと待ってね

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No, this isn’t a couple of mobsters mopping up after someone got whacked. It’s just Bill Lavicka and a few of his pals clearing the mess made after someone dropped a 30 gallon glass jug full of homemade red wine in his basement. The group gets together one Saturday a year at Lavicka’s Near West home to press and bottle wine from grapes they have shipped from Michigan and California.

The process can be messy, but obviously this was pretty extreme. My pants and boots were completely covered. There were specks of red in every corner of the room. It looked like a scene right out of The Sapranos. Who knows, maybe the poor guy who let it slip eventually met a similar fate. I left relatively soon after to find a fresh set of clothes before moving on to my next assignment.

I came across a website recently that is all about how to make wine.  It is a fairly new blog devoted to writings about wine in general.  It also has a review for a guide that I found to be great.  I purchased it after having enjoying the posts on that site.  Anyways, I learned a few things about making wine at home from this page.  For one, I didn’t realize how important it is to have nearly perfect fruit.  Perfect fruit is a major factor in the tasting of the wine.  If you use bruised fruit, the wine will not be as good as wine made from fruit with no scratches, bruises, etc.  So make sure you choose accordingly.

You can check out one of his articles on how to make wine by visiting his site.  It’s a nice article with some humor thrown in there.  I really like the writing style of this blogger.  He clearly is passionate about making wine, which is very important to me.

Learning how to make homemade wine also include different methods, techniques, equipments and ingredients involved in wine making in addition to the basic wine making recipe.

Wine has been an all time favorite for more than 8000 years and almost every person who loves to enjoy good wine has a romantic notion to create this vintage himself or herself. When it comes to making homemade wine, we must understand that it is not only about fermented juices of grapes but many popular and fine wines are made up of various fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Some of the ingredients used in making wine are elderberries, grapes, blackberries, peaches and apples. Apart from these, ingredients like fresh, canned or frozen fruits or concentrates, water, yeast, grape tannin, pectin enzyme, potassium sorbate, campden tablet and yeast nutrients are also used. In the process of learning to make wine, you will also be informed about how to cultivate grapes which is a technique in itself.

One of the biggest advantages of learning how to make homemade wine is that it proves to be extremely economical as you can make 6 bottles of wine in the cost of a single bottle of wine available in the market. In addition to that, making a good quality wine at your own home can be an interesting hobby and an enjoyable experience and will flaunt your skills of winemaking.

Wine drinking is a custom and most of the people like to have wine after having their meals. While learning how to make homemade wine, you must start with white and red wines, which are the simplest and most popular wines around the world. Some of the complex wines include variety of wines, blended wines and vintage wines. In the process of making wine, you will also need to learn about flavor extraction, bottling, fermentation and aging and understand various equipments.

After all, it is significant to avoid using some equipments like metal pans, colored plastics and stainless steel and to buy only those equipments that are suitable for wine making learners. You will also get to learn about preserving wine and preventing yeasts and bacteria to infect the wine.

As you will learn about making wine, the results get better with time and experience and you can also pick up the tricks and tips to improve your capabilities. Making wine is all about fun and you have to keep yourself reminding about this, because wine needs a perfect balance of tannin, sugar, nutrients and water which may develop as you move forward.

Even if you have made some mistakes on the first time, you will remember the next time you will make a wine and this way you will make yourself better at wine making. If you want to learn how to make homemade wine, you will have to do some homework before getting started. It is not something which you may plunge into and start learning on the way.

You will need to remember each and every detail about the various steps and processes because only a single mistake can add some unpleasant flavors in your wine or may destroy its color. Making wine is fun, which you may do during your leisure time, and in the end you may have a wonderful result.

I’ve been hunting for my chokecherry wine recipe. All the recipes I was looking at called for wine yeast, a campden tablet, tannin and/or pectic enzyme.  I wanted to make it the old fashioned way and I had done it that way before but a long time ago.  I was looking through my recipe pile for something else when I found this page, ripped from it’s original book.  YAY! You can click on it to enlarge. Well used, huh?  I found the rest of the book as well, without its cover.  My apologies to anyone interested in the Potato Wine recipe.

I’ll start making chokecherry wine tomorrow.

Here are a couple shots I took of a bottle of wine that was given to a co-worker from a client. then we had to do a blog post on it. don’t ask.

Anyway, the photos are pretty straightforward, sterile product shots.

Our Friday night dining group ventured to Mullica Hill, NJ last week to dine at one of my favorite South Jersey BYOB’s, Toscana Grill. It’s a place we have been to often and it never disappoints. This week was no exception. Toscana does have a liquor license but permits patrons to bring their own bottles without a corkage charge. They feature wines from the local Heritage Vineyard. My wine for the evening was the Kaiken Ultra Malbec. I picked up several bottle of this surprisingly tasty wine at a “blowout” sale at Canal’s on the Black Horse Pike across from the Hamilton Mall for $9.09. The wine usually sells for anywhere from 15 to 20 dollars depending on where you find it. I had purchased previous bottles for $15.99. It has a wonderful nose and the dark fruit flavors are well balanced with a long finish for a wine of so little pretensions. Do not confuse this wine with the regular Kaiken Malbec as there is a world of difference in the “ultra”.

One of my favorite items on the Toscana menu is a simple wedge salad. It’s always fresh and loaded with blue cheese, tomatoes and bacon. It’s the perfect start to a meal. I had the crab cake encrusted tilapia and it was tender and flavorful. It was accompanied by asparagus and a risotto cake.

Joe had brought with him a home made wine that some guy he works with makes every year. Normally, I decline offers to even taste these home creations but he had coaxed me into trying it on a previous occasion and I have to admit that this guy does a nice job. It’s the third time I have had this wine and although the first time stands out as the best effort, they are always interesting.

The bill for each couple came to $52.00 so you can see that Toscana Grill is not a place that will kill the family budget.

Did you sit by the fire this winter, sipping wine, while you dreamed of summer? Well summer is here, it’s going to be a fabulous weekend, and it’s time to have some fun at a winery!

You’ll find inspiration for your weekend right here … and create some memories to cherish this winter.

Do you have out-of-town guests this weekend? Introduce them to the Iowa wineries — they are sure to have a good time.

Thursday, July 16

Jasper Winery, Des Moines, Iowa www.jasperwinery.com

Brian Congdon and Brad Seidenfeld  6:00 – 9:00 p.m., various bands, food, fun. Free admission.

Southern Hills Winery, Osceola, Iowa www.shwinery.com

Lt. Governor Patty Judge will be visiting at 1 p.m. as part of the Vacation Iowa Tour. www.traveliowa.blogspot.com

Friday, July 17

White Oak Vineyards, Cambridge, www.whiteoakvineyards.com

Tony Valdez & Don Jacques perform at Friday Night Wine Down

7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Fireside Winery, Marengo, www.firesidewinery.com

Live music, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Snus Hill Winery, Madrid, www.snushillwine.com

Bill Martin Group, Live music, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

Southern Hills Winery at Jordan Creek Mall, West Des Moines www.shwinery.com

Vino Rita & Wine Festival, Live music and art, food and other exhibits. $5 admission. Purchase a bottle of Southern Hills Winery wine and then take a Horse-Drawn Carriage ride around Jordan Creek Town Center. Friday nights from 6:00 –9:00 p.m. Red Wine Carriage Ride for two $46. White Wine Carriage Ride for two $44. $15 for each additional person.

Saturday, July 18

Sugar Clay Winery, Thurman, Iowa www.sugarclaywinery.com

Live Music with Matt Cox  8-11pm  $5 cover/

Free to case club members.

Loess Hills Vineyard & Winery, Crescent, Iowa www.loesshillsvineyardandwinery.com

Live Music with Enigma 6:00 – 9:00 p.m

The Iowa Wine Trail sponsors The Eastern Iowa Wine Festival

Black Horse Inn, Sherrill, IA www.easterniowawinefestival.com

This is an “All Iowa” event featuring Iowa wines from across eastern Iowa, food and bakery products from the local area as well as Iowa musicians, music groups and Iowa artists. Festival Entrance is $10 and includes a Souvenir Wine Glass and program.

Tasting Tickets Available for Sale, Wine by the Glass Available by Sale. Bottles are also available for sale to take home or you are welcome to open the bottle and enjoy with some food from the festival.

Events at the festival include:

Live Music Performance by the Americana Polka Band and the Free-4-the-Haulin Band, Amateur Wine Making Competition and Award Ceremony, Artisan Products available for sale

Grape Escape Winery, Pleasantville, IA www.grapeescapewineryia.com

Wine-In-Movies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, dusk

Dale Valley Vineyard, Stuart, Iowa, www.dalevalleyvineyard.com

WINESTOCK

Wine, Music and Fun! Six bands from Noon – 9:00 p.m.

Eagles Landing Winery, Marquette, Iowa www.eagleslandingwinery.com

Good Ol’ Summertime Wine-A-Rita Weekend 10:00 a.m.

Emma Big Bears 140th Birthday, samples of Wine-A-Ritas. Try a sample of the summer drink everyone is talking about!

Also, Live music, Sunday, noon – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 19

Tassel Ridge Winery, Leighton, Iowa www.tasselridge.com

Asian Fusion Wine & Food Pairing Dinner
Wine Tasting: 6:00 p.m.
Dinner Seating: 6:30 p.m.
Price: $55 per person, plus tax
Join us for an Asian-inspired dinner beginning with Chef Hang’s special spring rolls and Vietnamese steam balls followed by spicy sour chicken soup, Asian grilled pork tenderloin with hoisin sauce, jasmine rice, grilled bok choi, and sticky rice with mango. This 5-course dinner will be paired with select Tassel Ridge wines. Call the Winery at 641.672.WINE (9463), advance reservations required by Wednesday, July 15.

Summerset Winery, Indianola, Iowa www.summersetwine.com

Listen to the Bob Pace Band with Barb Miller from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the winery.  Over the years Bob has performed nearly every genre of music–from hard hitting Rock n’ Roll to soothing acoustic solos; from down home Country songs to sensitive ballads, but its playing the blues that is his real passion.  www.bobpaceband.com
 $3 cover per person or $10 a car.  Case Club members get in free.

Snus Hill Winery, Madrid, www.snushillwine.com

Ashanti, Live music, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Park Farm Winery, Bankston, Iowa www.parkfarmwinery.com

Toast & Jam, live music, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Prairie Moon Winery, Ames, Iowa www.prairiemoonwinery.com

Amy and Adams, Folk, 3:00 – 6:00 pm.

Tassel Ridge Winery, Leighton, Iowa          www.tasselridgewinery.com

See new mechanical grape harvestor, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

John Ernest Vineyards & Winery, Tama, Iowa  www.johnernestvineyards.com

Holiday Road, live , music, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 22

Entries due for Eastern Iowa Wine Club Amateur Wine Competition, Benton County Fair, Vinton, Iowa

Contact Martin Blind at 319-551-2075 for more information.

Have fun in Midwest Wine Country! Find a bottle or two that you really enjoy and buy a case to take home. It’s the way to support your local wineries.

Are you collecting all 15 goodies on the Heart of Iowa Wine Trail? The Heart of Iowa Culinary Celebration runs through October 1st. Hit a few wineries  on the trail this weekend. Details at www.heartofiowawinetrial.com.

Looking ahead:  Iowa wines will be front and center at the Iowa State Fair — August 13 – 23. Make your reservations now for the Wine and Prime Dinner. It is the fine dining experience at the fair and features prime rib and your favorite Iowa wine from the Iowa Wine and Cheese Garden. There is limited seating, so make your reservations now — 515/ 262-8323 or toll-free (800) 383- 1682. You’ll enjoy it!

Cheers!
Barbara Rasko

Publisher

Make Mine Wine

www.makeminewinemagazine.com

All of the content from this blog is now part of homemadewine.net…pop on over and visit!

http://homemadewine.net

On my quest to find more places in Chicago that can help the average person make wine, I stumbled upon Chiarugi (KEY-AH-RU-GEE for those of you who have a hard time with Italian pronunciation) Hardware in Little Italy at 1412 W. Taylor Street.  As soon as I walked in I was greeted by the owner, Paul Rinaldi. Paul grew up in the neighborhood, and his family has owned the store for over 50 years.  The store’s focus has shifted from supplying italian families to helping young University students, but he seems more than happy with the change.  The shop is full of tools and basic household supplies, and I was able to pick up two small propane tanks for the grill.  They also have many basic supplies for wine making like yeasts, acids, corks, bottles, and bentonite for filtering. 

Paul knows a bit about making wine, and all about the supplies.  A couple essentials which are not at the store are barrels and juice.  The oak barrels have become somewhat pricey to keep an inventory, but are available at a number of online sites.  The juice or whole grapes are available yearly in a lot on 35th and Racine from August to October.  The supplier gets all product from California, and I will have more info when the lot opens.

In the meantime, stop in and say hi to Paul, grab some supplies, and wait for the juice to roll in.  You could be on your way to making some good homemade wine!

The weather here for the past week has been PHENOMENAL. Its been in the mid-high 80’s, sunny, with a light breeze. Basically, its been perfect weather. I am amazed with how stunningly perfect the weather is… and how fast it changed. We went from chilly 50 degrees with a cold wind to this in like, just a day! It is absolutely wonderful. I feel the need to take advantage of every moment, as if it could (and it will) be jerked away from me before I know it… there is no such thing as staying inside and watching TV or playing on the computer on a day like this. To do such a thing would be blasphemy, I think.  You have to savor every moment of the glorious warm breezes and hot sun, enjoy it and soak it in.

Today was such a day as to not be wasted. Yngve and I drove out to his moms house about 30 minutes away… she lives in a beautiful cottage on the Fjord and since the weather was so fine, we decided to go sunbathing/swimming. I myself didnt do much swimming because I didnt bother bringing my swimsuit, and the only place we went yesterday to look for one only had bikini’s and one single one-piece swimsuit that was horrible, so I refused to buy it even just to wear to swim. So instead, I contented myself with stretching out on the warm rock to sun myself and take in the glorious weather.  Oh, and I waded quite a bit as well. The beaches around the Fjord arent so much “beaches” in the traditional sense… they are long expanses of rock, sometimes pebbly, but there are huge smooth rocks to lay your towel on. Its actually a bit nicer than a sandy beach, as you dont have to worry about getting sand in places that are just a little uncomfortable. Warm days are not in excess here, which means when it is nice, EVERYONE heads out to the Fjord, or finds a sunny place to enjoy the sun. We were all  laying about on the rocks like sunning seals, eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on our faces and bodies. It was wonderful.

I took some time as well to explore around the little cove we settled in, poking a stick at bunches of seaweed that had been left on the beach with low tide, picking up interesting rocks and shells, and taking a few pictures. Wild strawberries were plentiful where we were sunning, they were sweet and small and the four of us found ourselves bent over patches of them, popping the berries into our mouths, fingers stained pink enjoying the warm fruit.

My exploration around the Fjord found a family of ducks who were happily quacking and fishing near the shore, they were adorable and I couldnt resist taking a couple shots of them.

The fjord itself is lovely, the sun sparkles on the water, the rocks that make up the shore are ancient and give you the feeling of being on some distant planet with their craters, striations, dips and hills.

Every now and then, if you were very quiet and looked very, very closesly, the magic that is the woods and waters of Norway would come to life and you could be almost certain you caught the glimpse of a little fairy or a gnome or a “nisse“… or perhaps you might even see… emerging from the shimmering depths… a sea creature, dripping wet and speaking in some strange language you dont quite understand… I managed to catch a photo of one of those fjord monsters, I believe it is known as an Yngve, but I’m really not sure.

hehe.

So anyway, it was a wonderful day… afterwards we had a great dinner with his folks, then came back home.

So, it all wraps up here at home with a lovely glass of his mothers homemade fig wine, which is faaaaaantastic. Its sweet and delicious, with a gorgeous color that reminds me more of a fine whiskey than a wine.  It tastes like taking every experience today- the sun, the water, the nature, the soft breeze – and distilling it into this wonderful wine- It goes quite well with a light snack of toast and brown cheese. So… the day has ended. The weekend was wonderful. I think now its time to finish my drink, get myself ready to close all the blinds to shut out the light and head to sleep. Days like today make me infinitely glad I came to this place. Beauty can be found around every corner in my new little world. I think I’m in love.

]]> http://hyperrandomshyte.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/how-to-wine-cellar-construction-5-ways-to-screw-it-all-up/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:15:17 +0000 beefsoda49 http://hyperrandomshyte.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/how-to-wine-cellar-construction-5-ways-to-screw-it-all-up/

In this little “how to wine cellar” article, we’ll discuss some MAJOR potential screw-up situations, and in particular, 5 destructive things to keep well in mind. To make wine cellar structures, you’d think some of these things might be obvious, but because these things are so damned simple, they can be easily overlooked – if you’re not careful here, these things can be destructive to your home, your wine cellar, the wine itself, and even the health of yourself and others. Keeping these things well in mind while you make wine cellar structures, you can avoid every costly faux pas. Allow me to explain…

The first how-to wine cellar building and design tip that we’ll go over, is dampness – the moisture that results in cooling things that contains liquids – that which results from condensation, which would naturally occur in a cellar. Sounds pretty cut-and-dry, yeah? Whether you’re going to utilize a passive form of refrigeration (by just using the general coldness of your cellar), or if you use active refrigeration (by use of electrical refrigeration elements), this needs to be addressed. Using “green board” (at type of water resistant sheet rock) as well as putting up plastic sheeting for a vapor barrier is an absolute must either way. The floor, walls and ceiling, as well as the structure of the wine racks themselves need to be absolutely protected against mold and rot. Don’t forget it.

The second how-to wine cellar building tip is on the woods you use in its construction. Firm and solid woods like maple or oak are great, but moisture damage resistant woods such as purpleheart or teak (though these can be wildly expensive) are the best. This is due to their exceedingly high silica content. Of course, because of this very same feature of these woods, it can be hell to work with these woods because the silica eats right through blades like pirhana on a side of beef. Redwood seems to be very common, and both weather resistant (thus, moisture resistant), and not so harsh against blades in construction. Whichever woods you decide to use, never-ever use aromatic woods (all cedars fall under this category) – the aroma of these woods will definitely taint your wines, make no mistake, no matter how tightly corked your bottles are – it makes no difference.

The third how-to wine cellar design tip has to do with flooring. Don’t ever lay carpeting or rugs of any kind because these just suck up moisture like a sponge – literally. As a result, they become hyper-fertile breeding grounds for all kinds of mold. Can you just picture it? This then eats into the wood, and ultimately kills the wine – all of it. This would represent a HUGE ruination of a very delicate long term investment… right? Also take into account that many people have allergies to such molds, often to a deadly degree. Most are allergic to a somewhat lesser degree, so this is cleary a big no-no. Foods and beverages and health hazards should never mix, needless to say.

The fourth bit of how-to wine cellar design advice is, well, in its design. Particularly if you not only buy wines to age, but if you also (or mainly) make your own wine, very young wines (or freshly made), should stand in an upright position for a while, and then after be laid upon their sides for the best proper aging. This has a lot to do with the way any remaining sediment within the wine (there’s always some) affects the wine as a whole while it ages. Build ample shelf and/or counter-top space to allow for this bit of doing, and build wine cellar structures in order to allow for the easy rotation of wines in this way as the aging progresses.

The fifth and last how-to wine cellar point to touch upon here, is in the insulation of the door (or in-floor hatch) of the entrance to the wine cellar. The ideal situation is that you should be able to feel the coolness of the cellar on the inner surface of the door and also feel the warmth of the outer room on the other side of the door, without any interfering influence between each other. A simple wooden door is rarely if ever enough. Some people can simplify this by having two doors separated by the space of a person standing between, and some choose to purchase a specially insulated door constructed for wine cellars. Whichever way you decide to attack this problem, this is another one of those easily overlooked aspects. See to it that you don’t neglect this particullarly important point.

There is a similar article on this subject, with access to blueprints and construction plans of many designs at http://www.squidoo.com/thewinecellar, which you can visit by clicking HERE. You’ll also find information on how to make homemade wine, how to wine tasting, free wine recipes and more.

I feel that wines like this are meant to be made without all the extra specialty ingredients. They are simple country wines that are meant to be homemade and good, but not too good. In the past I have made Dandelion wine which is just 2 gallons of dandelion flowers and 10 lbs. of sugar to make 5 gallons. You can use raisins, orange zest and lemon zest to make it a little more tasty. Simple, cheap and good enough to drink.

2 Gallons Dandelion Flowers
10 lbs white granulated sugar
Zest from 2 Lemons
Zest from 2 Oranges
2 Cups White Raisins
2 Servings Bread Yeast

Pick off all the stems from the dandelion flowers and discard. In a large pot with 2 gallons of water dissolve all the sugar while you bring it to a boil. Boil for one hour and then turn off the heat. Pour into a 5 Gallon Carboy or Bucket. Add Raisins and Zest from Lemons and Oranges and water to bring it up to 5 Gallons. Once it has cooled to about 85 degrees F add the prepared yeast and seal the container with an air lock.

It will take about 1-2 months to ferment and then you can age it in a bottle for at least a year. It is much better if you wait at least a year to drink it.

If I can get my hands on enough rhubarb this year this is something that I would love to try. There are a lot of specialty ingredients in this recipe but you can simplify it and not use them all. Most important is the Rhubarb, the sugar, the yeast and yeast nutrient. You can even use bread yeast if you don’t have access to wine yeast. The following recipe is from the book “Mary’s Recipes” by Jerry Uthemann

For 1 gallon of Rhubarb Wine:

2 1/2 lb to 4 lb Rhubarb
2 1/2 lb white granulated sugar
1 tsp Acid Blend
1 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
1 Campden Tablet
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1/4 tsp Grape Tannin
1/4 tsp Yeast Energizer
Water to make 1 gallon
Wine Yeast

Hints: Because of the oxalic acid present in rhubarb, it is best to ferment just the juice, not the pulp. Never use hot water with rhubarb. Cut up rhubarb and freeze for at least a few days, it will yield more flavor.

Method:
Thaw out rhubarb. Pour sugar and pectic enzyme powder with the crushed campden tablet over the rhubarb in the primary fermenter to extract the juice. Cover with a plastic sheet. Let stand for 24 hours, then strain out the fruit and press very dry. Mix all other ingredients except wine yeast in primary fermenter. Gently add the yeast to the must. Cover with plastic sheet. Ferment for 5-6 days, or until specific gravity is 1.030. Rack into secondary fermenter and attach airlock. When wine
is clear and stable, it’s ready bottle. Use 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate and 1 additional Campden Tablet to stabilize. Sweeten with simple sugar syrup if desired. It’s recommended that 1/2 tsp of ascorbic acid anti-oxidant be added at bottling time to preserve color.

Making wine at home is easy if you know the right steps to take. This Insiders Guide To Homemade Wine gives you all the secrets to produce delicious, fine wine.

Spent an excellent couple of hours last night re-watching The Fall, otherwise known as “that very beautiful movie” and “the only even semi-mainstream movie of the last century to feature spoken Romanian.” There’s a scene about halfway through where Catinca Untaru’s mother is asking the doctor when her daughter will be able to leave the hospital and Catinca translates back and forth, and I was both excited and smug in the knowledge that I was probably the only one in that room to understand both sides of the conversation. Not that I understood it all that well. Still, it’s a beautiful language, and I love having the chance to use it once and a while.

Excitement on the Div III Front: The Fearless Deb sent me an e-mail last night, saying she’d just finished my draft and is happy with all of the work I’ve done over Janterm. Huzzah! Of course, this means it’s officially time to stop patting myself on the back for the work that I’ve finished and get cracking on the rest of the writing. My goal is to finish the three introductory pieces (one each for Vassilike, Hannah, and Dog) by Wednesday, which is my next committee meeting. Which means, long story short, no pancakes today. But I did send Aliya to get the Seltzer water, so there is still the possibility of pancakes. Yeah, you heard me. Seltzer water. Apa carbogazoasa. These are Romanian pancakes we’re talking about…

As a consolation prize, please enjoy the following excerpt.

#15 – Sunday, Night – Hannah

As I walk into the kitchen, I find myself in the middle of a very mysterious scene. Dr. Lovett and the priest, along with the priest’s beard, are sitting at the kitchen table, speaking very rapidly in what I assume is Italian – the vowels flow liberally. On the table in front of them sit two glasses and an empty Coke bottle, its label faded but readable. The plastic is stained burgundy.

“Romanian wine,” Lovett pronounces grandly, gesturing to the empty two-liter. “They store it in pop bottles. You know. Recycling.” He gives a loud snort. “Cristi’s old mother made this batch with her own…bare…feet. I may die.” He surveys his empty glass deliberately. “Should have saved you some, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I hug my arms to my chest and study the two men closely. Lovett is obviously drunk. His face is pig pink. Though he began talking with his eyes on me, his gaze has now drifted to stare at something in the distance over my right shoulder, as if trying silently to warn me that the murderer has an ax and is creeping up behind me as we talk. The priest’s state is more of a mystery. Of all his face, only his nose is available for inspection, but it seems like it has always been like it is now, red and covered with broken veins. His eyes shine out serenely from behind their wire rims. Dr. Lovett makes another joke and laughs at it; the priest smiles into his beard.

“What’s the occasion?” I ask.

“Oh, you know. The end.”

“The end of what?”

“Everything! No, no. Just the program.” He giggles, but the sound is tired and less than amused. “Gabriella called a few hours ago to say…there’s no money.”

“Oh.” The events of the past few minutes have clouded my head, but even on a good night I might have a problem decoding this answer. “How is this different from yesterday?”

“No, you see, there’s no money. Or, sorry, no more money. Like, there’s never gonna be money. Foundation went bankrupt in, I dunno, three countries at once? So there’s no money. Negative money, even. Maybe. Once exchange rates and everything…I dunno, Gabriella’s working it out. I’m getting drunk.” He raises his eyebrows slyly at this statement, as if letting me in on a secret. “We really should have saved you some, Cristi’s mother…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” I repeat. My next question is obvious, but really it is too obvious and also too large. I struggle over the wording and end up sounding as drunk as my audience. “So then we…I mean, obviously, but when – So…we’re leaving? Right?”

“Si, correto!” Lovett laughs again, then seems to feel he may have offended me; his smile disappears. “Look, I’m sorry. We’ll finish what we have tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow…well, you’ll go to Gabriella’s apartment in Bucharest until we can get you a flight. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”

He begins to stand, holding out a hand as if aiming to pat my shoulder. He makes it almost upright before he begins to sway. The priest, much steadier, also stands and catches his arm. He says something to Lovett, then takes a hold of his elbow, and they walk forward arm-in-arm. Lovett talks as he walks.

“Hannah, honey, I’m sorry. This has been a mess, and we should have sent you home the minute you arrived. Look, I’ll write a great note, to your school or whatever you want and you can go home and have a great, relaxing summer. You’re great, it’s great…I mean, it’s been great, you know, but there is just no money There is no more any money. None.” He rubs a hand slowly up his face and into his hair, then turns to look at the hairy priest hanging solidly on to his elbow.

“This guy’s amazing, you know. Still don’t understand half of anything that comes out of his mouth, but look at him. Look! Just standing and smiling like nothing is wrong. Half a bottle of bathtub hooch and he’s barely shaking. Course, he’s a priest. If anybody can hold their liquor…”

“Cine mai nevoi a se imbata?” mutters the priest, still smiling. I don’t catch the words, but I get the uneasy feeling that he’s understood more of Lovett’s little speech than the doctor would have guessed or wanted. Still holding tight to the imprisoned elbow, he begins pushing Lovett forward, and it is soon apparent that he is trying to move his charge bedwards. I step to the side to let them pass.

“I am sorry,” Lovett repeats. As they squeeze through the door, he reaches over the priest’s head and lands an awkward pat on my arm. “If it weren’t for the money. Just the money. That’s life, right? Am I right? My God, no more money!”

He guffaws. Then, shuffling forward like a three-legged bear, the two men move slowly down the hall and into Lovett’s bedroom and the door slams shut behind them.

Today I have been trying my hand at making wine labels for my husband.  Wine making is his newest hobby, one of his newest hobbies.  I think he is moving on to guitar refinishing this winter.

The wine is only for our own family’s consumption.  The blackberries grew wild on the farm.  They have been growing here for as long as anyone can remember.  The plums are from trees also on the farm.  The apples came from my uncle’s trees.  The peaches we bought.  All were locally grown.

Picture of our own blackberries.                                                                 Portion of an oil painting I did of peaches.

These are not our plums.  We didn’t take a beforehand picture.        These are apples from my uncle’s tree.

It is long past Thanksgiving, so I am behind on posting the pictures, but it got a little bit crazy over here right after Thanksgiving, a lot of things happened at once, and we are still trying to prioritize.

BUT – here are a few glimpses of Thanksgiving Day at Ross and Jolene’s house. Tomas was not happy with how his picture turned out, so he will turn up later when he is ready.  

We also celebrated Jolene and Ross’s oldest son Sean’s birthday, he turned twelve a few days before Thanksgiving. He doesn’t have to wear a helmet when he rides his bike anymore!  Boo-yah!

Off we go, and, yes, it is COLD!

Everybody is watching, and I am about to hyperventilate. Swell.

Grandma, who is renowned for her pumpkin pies, looks on.

"They wanted me to have dusted under the bed??!! Who does THAT?"

"Got A Pen? GET A PEN!!"

"I got you" "No, I got you first" Nuh-uh, I got YOU" "Did Not" "Did too"

Ross's Turkey knocks his brother-in-law out

Barb, Brianna, and Bill - Self-proclaimed "Always the Gracious Guests"

Children Of The Corn - "Attack Grandpa!"

Cameron, "I see dead people...."

Jolene, The Stuffing QUEEN!

Sean rocks the house with a "Black Sabbath" tune.

Grandma, Bill, Tomas, Grandpa, Billy, and Cameron, "More Pie, Please!"

Ross, his mother Alice, and son Sean discuss chord changes.

Ross Williams - Chef Extraordinaire, musician, Renaissance man.

Ross and his younger sister Callie share a moment by the fire.

It was such a great meal, Ross slow cooks the Turkey outside with special wood – I have never in my life tasted such a Turkey.  Ross’s parents Alice and Bud were his right hand in the delivery and carving, Barb’s yam dish was gone before I had a chance to get there, so you can figure that one out. Jolene really is the queen of the stuffing, it was absolutely perfect, with no silliness added – you know when people put apples and raisins in stuffing? That is So wrong! I do not know who was responsible for the brussel sprouts wrapped in bacon, but it was a triple helping hit with me.

And finally, yes. Tomas’s mother, Mrs. Hartsky, really does make the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted.

Besides the food, Ross treated me to a nip of his homemade Brandy and LoganBerry wine – it was so good, I have to admit I had more than a nip. Having become the “special occasion” imbiber, I knew I was in for a headache the next day, but it was totally worth it.

The overall best time for me was the company, enjoying Tomas’s family, and the quietly nice feeling of being welcomed in.

Thank you Ross, Jolene, Mr. and Mrs. Hartsky, Alice and Bud, Barb and Bill, and the rest of the whole crew for a great Thanksgiving.

Grape Wine recipe

Making Wine At Home Is Easy – If – You Know The Right Steps To Take. This Insiders Guide To Homemade Wine Gives You All The Secrets To Produce Delicious, Fine Wine.

The Last Step
We have not finished with our block of crushed grapes yet! This is taken to the local Alambique (brandy distillery) to make Aguardente or Bugaco. Thankfully, this process will cost you less than 1 Euro per bottle!

Many people use the incredibly strong aguardente to clean and sterilize barrels (pipe) and wine making utensils. My personal favourite use is to roast a chorizo sausage with it simply set alight on a winters night.

Port or Jeropiga
Port has a mystique that has been developed over many years and a flavour that I love. Jerapiga is made in a similar way. This “farmers port” is easy to make and can be absolutely outstanding. Many friends remember our first taste of a ten year old barrel which was tapped at a recent social event. Everyone was in raptures of delight.

How to Make Jeropiga
Take 3 litres of two day old wine from the fermenting vat (this should be called vine/grape juice) as it is still sweet but has taken on some red colour. Pour this into your barrel or large bottle and add 1 litre of Aguadent. Keep adding the ingredients in these amounts until your container is full. Cork it firmly and leave in a cool dark place for at least a year. 10 if you can wait that long. Best drank in the winter with dried figs and walnuts for a very merry Christmas.

Vineyards can be cheap in central Portugal and are not seen as the luxury they are in the UK. In fact, a great deal of poor families have vineyards as it is much cheaper to make their own wine than to buy it. Coimbra Property Shop offer a range of properties with vineyards in central Portugal on their site. Click the following links to see more: Property with vineyard in central Portugal 1, Property with vineyard in central Portugal 2, Property with vineyard in central Portugal 3.

Ok, so I know it’s been like a year I have been promising this, but I finally have all the homemadewine.net recipes, the tutorial and new recipes compiled and in PDF and Print form! WOOO HOO! And, as the Farm grows and my time becomes shorter for “fun” things I have had to make the decision to move the entire kit and kaboodle to the farm website. I know this will be an adjustment for many of you have bookmarks so I will leave this blog intact, but! The Homemadewine.net website is now part of The Farm at Nanticoke creek.

Look at it as a good thing…not only do you have all the homemadewine.net stuff, but you get all sorts of new things too!

AND!!!!!

Our first video…How to make great cordials for Gift Giving will be released VERY SOON. We hope to have it on ITunes and UTube along with the website so be sure to look for it.

Now what are you waiting for? Come on over to the Farm!

www.farmatnanticokecreek.com