# Leinie Princess's First Attempt



## LeiniePrincess (Jan 29, 2008)

Well folks, after months and months of belonging to the forum and a few months of owning the equipment I started my first wine. The winner is the Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange and Spice Mead recipe.









Ready to rock!








Oranges.








So apparently I was supposed to take the honey OUT of the jug and into the warm water. I think I'll be ok. PWPrincess said it is incredibly difficult to mess this up!








Lots of shaking happened, so much that I was jumping up and down!








Ready for the closet!


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 30, 2008)

"You go Girl"....this is just the begining.....you can't mess it up...You have Wine Making Genes.


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## Joanie (Jan 30, 2008)

I think I need to make some of this too! It already looks delicious!


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## Wade E (Jan 30, 2008)

I have a 3 gallon batch of this going Leinie, I just added warm water on top and stirred as you did and it worked well. Glad to see you have started a batch finally.


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## rgecaprock (Jan 30, 2008)

Little Pwp,


You are going Great. Good choice!! I just put together 6 gallons and the stuff sure is sticky!!!


You will love the end result. Nothing like following in Mom's footsteps!!!!




Ramona


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## pelican (Jan 30, 2008)

What a great idea for the oranges my mom in FL sent for Christmas, Yummy honey wine. I especially like the part about it being hard to mess up. It looks good enough to drink





Now I just need to get serious about that fantasy of keeping honey bees.


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## LeiniePrincess (Jan 31, 2008)

My husband got to appreciate my "shaking" the batch. But those who were not here for the original jumping, have enjoyed my story telling examples. I think everyone's shaking should include jumping up and down!!! Much more fun!


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## smurfe (Jan 31, 2008)

Congrats! It is very easy to make.I have made this recipe as well as a few variations of it with other fruits. It has been fantastic every time.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 31, 2008)

Princess, there are many ways to do this. Being old school I use Chuck Berry (Twist) , of course you can always use more up to date such as Van Halen (jump) but it should come out great in the end!



You just need to turn it up really loud, in time the neighbors will know what your up to!


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## montyfox (Jan 31, 2008)

The pictures above bring up a question I've been thinking about. The instructions call for regular bread yeast, but it looks as if mead yeast was used in this batch. My question is, what effect does this have on the end result as far as taste goes? Has anyone tried this both ways and does the taste remain the same?


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## Waldo (Jan 31, 2008)

Looking good there "Mini Princess"


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## PolishWineP (Jan 31, 2008)

I'm so proud of my baby girl!I did advise using a wine yeast, not a bread yeast. Royalty tends to not follow all the rules...



Keep the pictures coming!


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## moto-girl (Feb 1, 2008)

Those pictures looked so good that I just ordered a 3 gallon carboy from George to make a bigger batch. Also I was pondering adding a vanilla bean or two; has anyone tried that or other small tweaks?


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## acesover (Feb 1, 2008)

what is mead comparable too? white wine ? it looks good.


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## NorthernWinos (Feb 2, 2008)

The only mead I ever tasted was in a friends winter fishing shanty and the guys were passing around a bottle...I took a little sip and thought it was pretty good...Maybe a little sweet.[I would have taken a larger slug of it but some of those old boys chew a lot of snoose...



]


Is it always a little sweet????


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## Wade E (Feb 2, 2008)

Its not always a sweet mead but most finish it that way as you get a better feel for the honey used. A mead is a more viscous wine with more mouthfeel and has its own taste if made without fruit. With fruit it really enhances all the above.


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## PolishWineP (Feb 2, 2008)

My Joe M Mead lost a lot of it's sweetness as it aged. I would highly recommend aging this mead, no matter what the directions say. And speaking of that, I need to start a new batch!


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## Joanie (Feb 4, 2008)

Ok... I got sucked in! I started three 1 gallon batches yesterday! I would have made it in a three gallon carboy but I'm down to gallon jugs and only have one airlock left! Something must need bottling soon so I can free up some glass!





6 gallons Pinot Grigio
6 gallons fresh peach
6 gallons Chardonnay
5 gallons fresh cranberry
5 gallons fresh juice Amarone
3 gallons fresh strawberry
3 gallons dandelion
3 gallons rhubarb
3 gallons chocolate raspberry port
3 gallons Joe's Ancient Orange

That's a bunch of gallons!!


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## Bert (Feb 4, 2008)

You have a very nice list there Joan.....and with all the friut wines you have put in a lot of work....Very nice job..


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## NorthernWinos (Feb 4, 2008)

Very nice Joan...Lots of wine for someone who claims not to drink much wine..


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## Wade E (Feb 4, 2008)

Very nice list there Joan.


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## Joanie (Feb 4, 2008)

NW, I really _*don't*_ drink much of it but I sure seem to have a lot of friends all of a sudden!




I ply them with liquor!


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## rgecaprock (Feb 4, 2008)

*Joan,* 


*You have quite the list there. Where in your house do you keep all of this glass. I remember a picture a long time ago of your kitchen.....maybe it was your ktichen....it looked very nice.Update us with your camera and show us your stuff.*

*Ramona*
*Edited by: rgecaprock *


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## Joanie (Feb 5, 2008)

Let's just say I don't have use of my kitchen table or my counters!





And the pantry has six 1 gallon jugs sitting on the floor! Gotta keep the AO in the dark, dontcha know!!


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## LeiniePrincess (Feb 5, 2008)

Joan, it took me as many months as you have gallons of wine to start my first batch! I am motivated now. Not to mention impressed.


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## Joanie (Feb 5, 2008)

Now that you've started, Leinie, you'll be hooked! I think only crack is more addictive than winemaking!


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## LeiniePrincess (Feb 19, 2008)

I know it's only been three weeks, but I thought I'd check to make sure it looked okay. Here it is. Tell me what you think.


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## acesover (Feb 19, 2008)

looks good, but i think that you should have that toped off by now. but im pretty now at this?


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## Wade E (Feb 19, 2008)

Meads do not need to be topped up like wine does as honey is a natural preservative and thats why honey really never goes bad, it just crystallizes and when it does that you just heat it up to get it back to liquid form.


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## PolishWineP (Feb 19, 2008)

Recipe says to top it up, so you'd better top it up.


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## NorthernWinos (Feb 19, 2008)

MOM, [her Highness] says..."TOP IT OFF"


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## LeiniePrincess (Feb 20, 2008)

After I posted yesterday I went back to the recipe and said, "hmmm, I should top it off." Glad to see so many people confirmed that for me! It's what you're all here for!
Thanks!


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## dcrnbrd (Mar 7, 2008)

how is the mead looking now leinie


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## LeiniePrincess (Mar 8, 2008)

It hasn't exploded yet, so good!


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## Joanie (Mar 8, 2008)

How many bottles of wine do you think you will get out of your gallon, Leinie? My three have a LOT of non drinkable stuff in them.


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## SmokinDawg (Mar 8, 2008)

looks good might have to try a gallon my self


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## Waldo (Mar 8, 2008)

Looking mighty good little princess


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## rgecaprock (Mar 8, 2008)

Little PWP, 
Looks fantastic!!! Following in Mom's Snow Tracks!!


Ramona


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## PolishWineP (Mar 9, 2008)

Oh Ramona! Following in mom's snow tracks? Nothing like rubbing it in!



It snowed all day yesterday, (although, nothing like what the eastern part of the country got!) and today is a beauty day. 
I think that this is Mini Me's 1st of many batches of wine. Just a sampler batch. Like shampoo bottles in a hotel...


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## Coaster (Mar 10, 2008)

Gratz on the first batch!


I got 10 bottles from a 3 gal batch. I wasn't very good (still not at times) at racking so maybe could have gotten more. When I do it again I am going to rack more aggressively and let that settle out in smaller jugs. I didn't degas before I racked (but I did before I bottled). There are various opinions on if you should degas before or after racking. I used sweet mead yeast and it's sweet (but I also over did the spices for my taste so will tone those down next time). I needed a bent coat hanger to clear out the oranges.


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## LeiniePrincess (Mar 11, 2008)

Thank you all for the compliments! As far as bottling, degassing, and racking goes...haven't a clue. But you'll all be the first to know, for I will be posting with questions!


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## trashy (Mar 14, 2008)

How, oh HOW did I miss this thread! LeinieP! I am so proud of you! 

OK, so it's not 'real' wine but it's going to have alcohol. Good for you. We'll work on getting you over to the dark side later.

BTW, next time you're going to shake up a batch of this stuff, think video. Think YouTube. It'll be more popular than Catalina doing her stage show on My Name Is Earl. You could have a whole web site!


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## LeiniePrincess (Mar 14, 2008)

Trashy! Where have you been? I got worried that maybe you stopped liking wine and we'd have to hold an intervention!

You may not think mead is "real" wine, but sometimes I'm "really" ditzy, so it's a good one for me to start with. I'm waiting for the Joy of Home Wine Making to show up in the mail any day now. I'll breeze through that (I hope) and then continue on my wine making journey.

Ah YouTube. It's a wonderful thing. But I'm trying to get back out into the real world of employment...I'm not sure how well my being on YouTube would go over with a future employer. Once I'm employed...watch out!


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## trashy (Mar 24, 2008)

LeiniePrincess said:


> Ah YouTube. It's a wonderful thing. But I'm trying to get back out into the real world of employment...I'm not sure how well my being on YouTube would go over with a future employer. Once I'm employed...watch out!



It depends on the employer!


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## LeiniePrincess (Mar 31, 2008)

So, the recipe says to bottle when it's clear. How clear is clear? It's been the mandatory 2 months, and then some, I'm not sure I'm ready to go. The raisins are sinking a little but the oranges are still up there. Suggestions? Photos?


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## PolishWineP (Apr 2, 2008)

You can cheat, and rack it.



If you do, after you rack it, pour the lees through a regular kitchen strainer (sanitized of course!) and add back the liquid that you get from it. I wouldn't do any squeezing or pressing at this time. Top it up with marbles or just rack it into a smaller jug or bottle. Air lock it and let it settle.


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