our newest offering

Twins (unindentical)

Though you can't tell in the picture, these wines were nicely cleared up. They are the 2nd annual citrus wines put together in January. The one on the left was aged on orange blossoms from my pruning at the spring equinox. The floral aroma is overpowering even though, as you see, there isn't really that much in the way of flowers in the jug- maybe an inch in the bottom of the gallon. I have since bottled some for later and split the remainder into four containers: two left as they are here, and two of each of the same with oven-kilned orange wood in them.

As I said, the floral aroma was very strong so I am considering blending what I bottled of that one into an orange blossom mead when it's ready to bottle, just for a little extra varietal character.

As the orange wood was drying the smell was very sweet and almost honey-like. I can't wait to see what they age into.



Fermented and aged from New Year's Day to the Vernal Equinox; split between flower and no flower until the Summer Solstice; split between flower, no flower, flower with wood, and no flower with wood. To age until the Autumn Equinox and be bottled for tasting around the next new year.

I've seen this sign for the last 4 years: "Rosa Fiorelli Winery 14 miles".

Misty and I went with some fellow H.A.M.S. club members to Rosa Fiorelli Winery this afternoon.

We were given this tasting sheet to go by. As you can see, I felt the best was #9, followed by #4, then #5. Strange thing about #9 was this: it was supposed to be a dessert wine, but Antonio (we're on a first name basis with sr. Fiorelli now LOL) forgot to back-sweeten it before bottling. We also tried it fully sweetened, but preferred the mistake! My notes got cut off, but it says re #9: "deep, big grape".
On the back I made notes about tasting #5 and #7 chilled. The server made a production out of drinking the Conquistador Gold just right so as to flush the cheeks and produce goosebumps. I think it worked. The illustration at the bottom references the dessert in a photo below.






Most of the tasting room pics came out blurry because of the low light, but I thought this one of dessert preparation was OK.

Our two favorites:
After tasting, we toured. First up, the 55 degree room:

I love that he uses the same airlock that homebrewers do!

Bottle filler:
Crusher/destemmer, and bladder press:

Then we went outside to visit with the grapes for a while.

New plantings:
Antonio:

When he was young, in Sicily, he didn't like picking grapes and making wine but was made to do it by his family. Now, he says, "it is the passion".

Clois du Bois:
The entrance/exit:

The blogger, winemaker in the making:

At the Freimuth's winery, learning the trade:

(with Margot Freimuth)

Germany. Here, perhaps?

Speaking of that Citrus Wine... (Brew IX)

This is what it looks like today. Olson's Grove Sunshine Citrus Wine. This is what it looked like months ago. At that time, I called it "Citrus Flor".

Not exactly a "vinyard"...

But sea grapes nonetheless.

I'm looking, but can't seem to find info on sea grape harvesting season. I want to try out some sea grape wine.

This picture is from Jupiter. Remember Jupiter?

Friday Night Whites... and Reds

Whole Foods in downtown Sarasota held a wine tasting friday night.

$5 per person, and the glass is yours to keep. There were 10(?) wines and 6(?) cheeses.

If you click on the pics, you can see some notes from me. The opinions stated are the opinions of the bloogger and in no way represent the opinions of my mom, Don, or Misty. Except for the one where we all agreed hands-down.

One that was not on the flyer was a Mango wine. I was thrilled at the idea, since I made my own last summer. This one was thick, sweet, and as my mom said "this could be a breakfast, all by itself." Mine was rather dry and resembled a chardonnay.
The two we took home:
One of the glasses we took home:

After the tasting, on the way to the Jeep, we heard music. We decided to follow the sound and stumbled upon a street party. When asked about the occasion for the party, one of the ladies at the beer table replied: "It's the 3rd Friday of the month!" Reason enough. You gotta love Florida.

Next month, Whole Foods is having "Beer Fest" as a fundraiser for our local public radio station (I think). Anyway, BEER! We'll be there.

Brew VIII

Strapple 2007

yep, I caught me a strapple fish.

It's an acquired taste, though. Quite like a sherry- oxidized I guess. And browner than last time.

edit: may 20.

Alright, after all is said and bottled and chilled, the sherry note seems to have been a misinterpretation- I think that I used more Apple in this than last time, and that is where the difference lies. Perhaps it just needed time to "open up" and breathe, but it tastes better than I thought at the time. Perhaps a few months in the bottle will work the kinks out.

Brew VII

This is Misty's bottle. The cherry-niagra (Welch's). I'm sure you remember.

It doesn't have a label, but it's a pretty nice color, if you ask me.

Brew VI

Well, I bottled the mead too early. What didn't explode had to be put in the fridge to stop the secondary fermentation from getting carried away. Now I have a few bottles of bubbly, sweet mead. Not too bad, but not what I wanted.

As for the "live fast, die young". It died young alright. I did not boil it to see what difference it made. It was like sniffing a flower shop, I swear! BIG nose. Quite dry. Perhaps it should have lived longer if only to see its potential.

The cherry/white grape only made 2 bottles. I drank the first at bottling time and it was surprisingly good. The other is in the cellar (closet) waiting for Misty. It's a light pink color, reminiscent of a very pale WZin.

Reverend Olson's Chapple Wine was a hit for all who tried it. Perhaps next cherry season I'll make a full 5 or 6 instead of just 1 gallon.

We drank a bottle from the citrus flor (renamed "Sunshine Citrus") early- it's not cleared and was kind of harsh. It was really good for such a young drink. I look forward to drinking it as soon as I start making another batch next January or so.

The Strapple is sitting contently in the corner not bothering anyone. Waiting patiently. Looking tasty.

The pyment was quite good. Dry, but fruity. Big concord flavor, maybe would age out if I let it.

I started a "Big Pink Grapefruit" back at the Vernal Equinox. It's a varietal because all the fruit came from one tree. I used more juice than most recipes call for and just a touch more sugar as well. 1.5 gallons juice, 10 lbs white sugar, 2 lbs brown, 2 packets Premier Cuvee yeast to make 6 gallons. We'll see!

Brew V

Above and below: A bucketload of strawberries. Stemmed and bucketed by my children. I knew they were good for something.

19 1/2 gallons now. Left to right: rear: Mead Day mead, Citrus Flor, strawberry-apple; front: Live Fast-Die Young Mead, Special Secret Wine Inside, concord pyment, Chappel Wine, and the white grape-cherry.

Chapple Wine sitting in warm water. An attempt at bringing it back to life as a drier wine. It did kick start it, but it didn't last. It is what it is, I suppose. A note for the curious: that is a ghetto airlock. I keep it for old time's sake. Necessity is the mother of invention, and there was a time when $2 for a replacement was just not available.

Brew IV

The astute observer may have noticed that I never mentioned what was in the half-gallon jug in my previous brew post. It was a jug of Welch's white grape cherry juice. I removed a cup of it and replaced it with a cup of sugar before pitching champagne yeast. I have tried a few Welch's wines but found they were a bit thin, so I thought I'd chaptalize a little and see how that works. Misty is the one who suggested the flavor, and I of course agreed- I dig cherries.Well, this is it, up close and personal.

The concord pyment.

"Citrus Flor" So named for the fact that I picked the fruit up off the forest flo(o)r (not really a forest, but I've always been a fan of poetic license) in my back yard. And I pitched a flor sherry yeast.

"Live Fast, Die Young" mead. Made with slightly less honey than usual for a fast fermentation and will be carbonated and drunk immediately, or as they say in wine: young. Yes, less honey means a lighter color, but the main difference between this and the Mead Day mead is the type of honey that was used. The smaller was made from Florida wildflower and the larger from Florida citrus, palmetto, and wildflower.

Reverend Olson's (that'd be me) Chapple Wine.

Brew Magic

Above is a rather close-up picture of the HAMS Mead-Day mead. I love that color. I hate camera flash, so I tried flashing through one of the airlocks picured below and it came out interesting. To me, anyway.

This is a concord grape pyment. It is the most active fermentation I've got going right now. For those out there without experience: see the stuff above the liquid, stuck to the glass? That is remains of the initial fermentation boom, and it is why you shouldn't fill your jugs too full. Trust me, I know this to be true.

This is a group shot. 13 1/2 gallons worth.from left to right they are: 1 gallon of concord pyment (which is a grape/mead mixture), 5 gallons of Mead-Day mead (s.g. 1.142) sitting in a prohibition era carboy (it's bottom is marked with- I believe -"1927", but I'm not picking it up to check any time soon), 1 gallon of a weaker mead (intended for near-immediate consumption and sharing as a sparkling mead), 1 gallon of Reverend Olson's Chapple Wine (for religious purposes, I'm sure), and 5 gallons of citrus wine (my first attempt) made from two different varieties of grapefruit and oranges from my backyard.

It may look like a lot, but trust me- it doesn't last long, especially if you share!

Oh, thanks to Tom for the gallon jugs.

brew notes

Then:

The mead (brewed at Mead Day, courtesy of HAMS club) was not stuck, just extremely slow. It still bubbles, but you really have to wait for it.

The elderberry wine tastes pretty good, could use a little more body, but the majority of the bottles blew their corks out! The gravity was so low, I thought I shouldn't need to sulfite. Perhaps I was wrong, eh?

The gingered ale was a hit. I kegged it with the setup Misty bought me back at xmas '03. It was sweet (not the beer, that was a bit on the dry end).

Now:

I'm letting some apple wine ferment complete before adding cherries for "Reverend Olson's Chapple Wine".

Last night I bottled a "Spiced Solstice Ale". The spice seems a little heavy, but will probably mellow shortly. I figure it will be ready by New Year's Eve. I should have bottled it sooner, but I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to drink it. Turns out that "moderation is the key" to controlling blood sugar, so I am able to hold onto my hobby. Anyway, I used (for the first time ever) a kit. It was English, Munton's "Old Ale", and it was much hoppier than I had expected. The orgininal intent was a Fruitcake ale and I brewed it with ginger, brown sugar, and honey, but the hoppiness killed that idea. Instead I spiced it with a cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg tea at bottling.

Next:

A dry mead. 9lbs honey and champagne yeast. Not sure what else.

more later...