Well it's Nov. 30 and I finally cracked open the Habanero Apple Wine I made last year. My intention was to make something spicy for cooking with, or maybe a shot on a cold, cold day in the winter.
It's got a nice deep yellow colour, and has fairly long legs. Seeing as how it is around the 14% mark, that makes sense. I didn't use any bodybuilders in this wine, as my final goal didn't really require it, and I didn't backsweeten. I didn't filter it, but it's nice and clear without sediment.
In the glass, it smells entirely of crushed habaneros; but no burn in the nose though, which was a bit of a concern during fermentation. You couldn't put your face over the bucket for fear it would melt off.
It the mouth it was thin (expected), and very, very hot. There was no young wine taste, and absolutely no off tastes present. It was simple heat and wine. After a minute or so, it had an aftertaste of pepper and a hint of apple.
This wine has absolutely hit the mark in what I was shooting for. You wouldn't want to drink a glass of it unless you were ok with living without taste buds, but a sip or a shot will do the trick to warm you up. I'm very much looking forward to using this bottle in my chili this week and see how it holds up with all that meat and acid.
I will definitely enter this into the recipes section of the site. Great recipe!
I ended up putting it in clear port bottles instead of the ice wine bottles - purely out of laziness.
