WMT (Unofficial) Strawberry Coastal White Wine Competition

[dangerdave]

Sorry, Dan, no go. The newest rule is that the project organizer <me> receive a magnum of everyone's wine, gift wrapped with twenty dollar bills, accompanied with a half pound block of dark chocolate sheathed in gold leaf. Chocolate and strawberry...mmmmmmm...

 

[jswordy]

Tsk! Dan! Did you miss page 32? All wines must be shipped in 50 gallon French oak barrels! Try to keep up!

 

[Runningwolf]

You guys are a rough bunch. If Troy from Fairbanks would only pop in he would tell you how to make it right with sugar water and cat hair. Heck one time I think he was making some when time when a moose even slobbered in it. He said it gave it more mouth feel!

 

[jswordy]

Just a technical question, Dave, but shouldn't "organizer" be in quotes, since you ain't done a darned thing yet?

Not that I don't admire a man with those required skills to be in management, mind you...

 

[dangerdave]

"Management" and "organization" are not in my dictionary. My yearly work evaluations include phrases like "danger to self" and "occupational hazard".

 

[dangerdave]

Well, it's a wonderful thing that we've delaid this event for a few weeks. Just to make the rest of you feel more confident.

A few nights back, I decided to test out a bottle of my Fat Flamingo Strawberry Coast White. When I pulled the cork, it popped way too loudly, and the wine produced a distictive phizz! I poured it into the glass and got a disturbing layer of foam! Ugh! I HATE MAKING STRAWBERRY WINE! Did I mention that strawberry wine is my nemesis!?

On the other hand, the strawberry champaign was not all that bad. Nice berry flavor. Fizzy on the tongue.

But that's not what I wanted! Stupid strawberries! We hates them, forever! So, yesterday morning I popped 20+ bottles of pink champaign and dumped them back into a carboy for more degassing. The wine is now in detention for a few weeks for observation.

Who knows how this will turn out! Exciting isn't it! <stupid strawberries!>

 

[jswordy]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCiDEXuxxA[/ame]

 

[Arne]

Well, it's a wonderful thing that we've delaid this event for a few weeks. Just to make the rest of you feel more confident.

A few nights back, I decided to test out a bottle of my Fat Flamingo Strawberry Coast White. When I pulled the cork, it popped way too loudly, and the wine produced a distictive phizz! I poured it into the glass and got a disturbing layer of foam! Ugh! I HATE MAKING STRAWBERRY WINE! Did I mention that strawberry wine is my nemesis!?

On the other hand, the strawberry champaign was not all that bad. Nice berry flavor. Fizzy on the tongue.

But that's not what I wanted! Stupid strawberries! We hates them, forever! So, yesterday morning I popped 20+ bottles of pink champaign and dumped them back into a carboy for more degassing. The wine is now in detention for a few weeks for observation.

Who knows how this will turn out! Exciting isn't it! <stupid strawberries!>

Dave, Dave, you shoulda asked the lazy man what do do. You wouldn't have had to go to all the work of opening and dumping and degassing. All you had to do was change the label to sparkling. Would of been a winner. One other thing, strawberry wine can be a pita. Been there. LOL, Arne.

 

[dangerdave]

Yea, been there, done that. Shouldn't have bottled so early. Lesson re-learned. I'm never making strawberry again. Dragon Blood never gives me any trouble.

As a note, the last strawberry wine I made did the same thing. After I straightened it out, it was very good! We'll see about this one. I feel a right hearty drubbing coming from our esteemed judges.

Let's have a Skeeter Pee contest next, so I can make something I know will work.

 

[Dend78]

spoken like a true rookie Dave...bahahah just kiddin

 

[jswordy]

Heres' Dave!



Whew ... LOOK OUT JUDGES!!!!

 

[dralarms]

That is great, Jim.

 

[jswordy]

That is great, Jim.

Yeah, I reckon for safety the judges need to just set his wine aside and go on, don't you???

 

[Runningwolf]

I think Dave is in trouble...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hIcKkKID8k[/ame]

 

[dangerdave]

A ribbing well deserved.

 

[jswordy]

a ribbing well deserved.

...but paybacks are hell, right???

 

[jswordy]

OMG Kraffty, I have dun LOST this competition already!

 

[dangerdave]

Yea, I got one, too, Jim. Haven't opened it yet. I'm scared!

My ex-sparkling strawberry is going back in the bottles this week. I have great expectations, though. I expect to lose very badly:

But Kraffty is disqualified. The bottle I got was clearly not wrapped in twenties, and the bar of chocolate was missing!

 

[dangerdave]

I drank Mike's (Kraffty) version the other night. It is slightly different than mine. I've told him what I think, but I'll reserve any public comments until after the unofficial judging.

Ok, then...I got mine fully degassed and back in the bottle. My lovely wife---not biased at all!---says it's better than it was before. So, part of the recipe for this wine will include, "...after allowing the wine to dangerously referment in the bottle, carefully uncork, return to carboy, degas, filter, and rebottle several weeks later."

This is turning out to be a real "Philosopher's Stone". Hopefully, it will turn into gold!

 

[jswordy]

We got a ship date/entry deadline yet? Sara said 4 weeks back on 9/26. Next week would be Week #4.

I'm only asking because I am having a heckuva time keeping this stuff in the bottles. I guess I used the wrong kind of acid, because it is eating small pinholes in my bottles and leaking out. What a mess!