© H.I.Koehler
I bottled the wines I had fermented last fall on the 8th of February. In the course of doing so I obviously got quite a bit of sampling done! Some good info on making your own wines here.
Similarly to last year I made Saskatoon berry wine but only one batch instead of the wild collection of concoctions that were the result of having too much fruit on hand.
This batch turned out beautifully. There is no question that having an abundance of fruit that is naturally sweet and juicy negates the need to add much water...and somewhat less sugar...but Saskatoons aren't really juicy so I compensated by using a LOT of fruit. In fact I still have some in the freezer I picked so much.
A real surprise was the pear wine.
Pear is a funny fruit...tastes phenomenally good but has a uniquely gritty texture. It's actually odd since the fruit is so juicy it's used to can other fruits commercially but thankfully it's not present in the wine which unquestionably tastes of pear.
I can't say I'm too thrilled about the apple and crab apple wine. I knew those would be tricky because the apples I used were tart. I just couldn't not NOT pick what is pretty much free. While apples (particularly crab apples) make for a really great jelly they are labor intensive to make into pure juice without added water. I will probably pick them next year simply to add to preserves as a natural pectin unless fairy godmother gives me a press.
On the subject of apples we have a cider producer in Merritt- shall have to try some of their product to see what I SHOULD be aiming for!
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