Wine by the month

[the_rayway]

I can't argue with that Jeri. it just looks gross. But I bet it will be one of the best ever. Kind of the ugly duckling syndrome.

I started my chocolate-strawberry yesterday using Jack cellars recipe . Oh _ EM _Gee!!! It smells like someone poured all my guilty pleasures into a bucket then decided to make me inhale it.

Here's my initial setup. I took the SG reading after adding the chocolate sludge so I am not 100% sure if the reading is accurate.

I still plan to do the onion wine as soon as I have a free fermenter. Hopefully Monday.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/lsbeyer58/wine pics/chocStraw-11-15-13b.jpghttp://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a219/lsbeyer58/wine pics/chocStraw-11-15-13b.jpg

Ahhhh! Can this club include shipping our bottles around for others to taste?!? I wanted to lick my computer screen when I saw this. Lol, looks sooo good!

 

[the_rayway]

Lori,

That stuff is going to be spectacular! It does smell wonderful doesn't it? Maybe I will try that one in February. It can be my Valentines wine for the following year.
BTW, I really like the font you used in your picture. You should consider using that on your label.

Weaverschmitz,
That is interesting about the cayenne. I've made a note about that and will definitely keep it in mind when I taste it next year.
How big is your grape harvest each year? What kind are they?

As far as how we should do this ...I don't know, I'm guessing whatever majority thinks will work best.
If we keep the same thread month after month, it's going to be huge. And I absolutely hate having to dig through big threads.
What would you guys think of doing a separate thread each month and titling it <Month> Wine Club?
Then at the end of the month, someone can post the last response in the thread and make it a summary of names and what wine each person made. If it is something that catches on and is still going in a year, we can begin having two threads a month, one that is titled <Month> Wine Club (for starting new 1 gallon batches) and <Month 2013> Wine Club Results (for the previous year results), etc.
What other ideas do you guys have?

That sounds exactly like I was thinking. Do you want to start a November one and we will re-post our recipes in there? I was thinking some of the 'members' would change month to month, as people are able, etc. So if we organize it this way - with the summary at the end of the month, it will be easier to keep track of altogether.

Lonestarlori - I wanted to let you know, I popped open my Orange Chocolate Port tonight for a very tiny glass. It has really come along since I bottled it last year. It's much smoother, the orange has lost the 'fake' taste, is much more mellow and has fallen to the back quite a bit. The chocolate is really what you smell and taste right now! Nice, dark chocolate with a sort of kiss of candied orange. I'm liking it a lot, can't wait to see what it does over the next few years!

 

[Jericurl]

Ok, new thread for November 2013 Wine of the Month Club has been posted.

Head on over there and post your recipes!
And thanks for everyone that is going to participate.
I think this is really going to be fun.

Rayway,
How long do you have to age port? I'm a little in awe of your willpower. If something is in the house and chocolate and it tastes good, I'm gonna be all over it like a chicken on a cheeto.

 

[the_rayway]

Polarhug - I always plan to make slightly over a gallon so I have top up. That way I don't need to add any water/wine until maybe the last racking. Usually about one cup is all it takes for batches this small (from my, oh, 2ish years experience. Lol)

Jeri - It's not willpower, it's selective memory loss!
I've got three kit ports bottled: Apple Tatin Port (which is TO DIE FOR), Orange Chocolate, and Blackberry. Ideally, I would like to test them first at 6 months, then one year to start. I was feeling very unsure about the Orange Chocolate when I bottled it, so I decided to 'forget' until now. I'm doing the same with the Blackberry. The Apple Tatin was a different brand (RJS) and it never had that kit taste - which is why it was amazing at 6 months, and incredible at a year. So...the short answer long is that you should age it as long as you can before tasting it! Lol.

 

[wineforfun]

FWIW, I've read here that it is best to reserve one primary bucket solely for the pepper-onion wines; that it is hard to get that smell or taste out of the bucket and you won't want to use that bucket again for regular fruit wines.

True to a degree. I used a primary for an apple/jalapeno wine and am still using it with no bad effects. I did clean it real well a few times and then sat it outside in the heat(a recommendation from someone).

I do know of some people on here though that have turned that "pepper" primary into a planter when done.

 

[wineforfun]

Wonderfully fun idea!

Question: Do you do over a gallon initially so you have some to top up with, and have exactly 1 gallon when you bottle... or do you plan on topping up with a commercial or similar wine? Just wondering since some of the recipes sound pretty unique.

Yes, I always make additional up front so I have some to top up with.

 

[buckhorn]

I think your idea of how to organize this with a thread by month is a good one. One suggestion I am thinking (if the message board software allows it) -- make the first post in the monthly thread the summary -- instead of "at the end of the month".
This would mean the first post would need to be edited to add the participants and their recipes, but someone will have to organize this information for the post at the end also....

The reason for this is 2 fold
a. the end of the month may not be the last of the posts to that thread as people read/comment/post questions after the month is over (esp if they have questions about the recipes being used...) -- hence, there is no guarantee that the post with the summary will be the last one and not stuck in the middle somewhere.
b. As months go by, it will be easier to open the thread and look at the first post with a summary to know if you need to look further in that thread for info on that recipe someone made that you want to try....

Just my $0.02 -- for what it is worth.

 

[JohnT]

Jericurl,

Just wondering, How did your prickly pear wine turn out? Is manthing excited about collecting more fruit next year?

 

[Jericurl]

So far, so good.

Right now it's just aging out. It is very, very hot tasting right now and pretty dry.
I used my wine thief a couple of weeks ago to sneak some out and added a little bit of sugar to my glass. The first thing that hit me was that it tastes like communion wine to me. So the grape juice is predominate. I'm hoping once it all ages out and gets sweetened the prickly pear taste will come out to play.

Lol, a few weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to try a lime/prickly pear version of Dragon's Blood. Manthing gave me some serious side eye when I said that. When we drove out to visit with my parents I was looking for any left over prickly pears on the side of the roads. He was muttering about not stopping the entire time. They were all gone though, so yeah, it'll definitely be next year before he has to deal with them again.
He's a good sport. I actually did get him to drink a couple of glasses of Dragon's Blood with me the other day.
There was no beer in the house, but still! There's hope for him.

 

[JohnT]

Glad to hear it Jerri.

If he had a couple of glasses, just think that any glass above and beyond the first one is applause!