What's in your glass tonight?

[Hazelemere]

One more taste in a glass from carboys and then I will try to take a break from this partly because of how many times I have posted.

Pacific Black Iris Cerise 2023

This is a blend of Black Iris (68% wild blackberries with 32% organic wild pitted cherries) with red grape wine from California reds with Washington Syrah blended with hybrids (Foch and Regent). Half of the the Black Iris (30 bottles) had 2 bottles Bols cherry brandy in it and the other half didn't.

Here is the blend in a glass ~40% Black Iris with Bols Cherry brandy 40% Black iris and 20% California/Washington grape wine

Here are are my my comments on this wine in a glass:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - slightly sweet, as a fruit wine this is very good. If it has a flaw it is too sweet at this acid level which can be fixed lots of different ways.

Afterthought - I just tasted this blended 50/50 with my wife's red wine "Carol's Red" which is blackberries-wild cherries-Washington Syrah-Marechal Foch and Regent

Here are my comments on this wine:

Black Iris Fusion 2023

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is really good, maybe slightly sweet. Otherwise it it is very good.

Next time I talk to all of you I will try Black Iris with Foch and then Black Iris with regent to boost the acid and cut the sweetness.

So for now I am done for at least a week, probably longer wrt wine tasting and posting on this website.

 

[Boatboy24]

My property taxes almost doubled this year. Been thinking dollah bills for that one.... "Now, see, this lil pile is what I paid LAST year! And THIS BIG PILE, well... that's this year! Start counting..."

Must be that new road and driveway apron significantly raised your property value.

 

[jswordy]

Must be that new road and driveway apron significantly raised your property value.

I'd laugh harder, Jim, if not for the situation. The county commission passed a THIRTY SEVEN percent 2023 tax rate hike, and the local assessor did what they call a "drive-by reappraisal" of my farm, hiking the 2023 assessed value 17%. Oh, it gets better! In 2024, the state will come in, as it does every five years, and reappraise it again. Since this county has literally zero services other than schools (we didn't have kids) and roads, I think that third of a load of driveway gravel was danged expensive. It'll be all I ever see for my tax money. The funny part is that 75% of the county budget goes to schools, and once they spend it on educating those kids and they hit 18, they leave and don't come back – until maybe when they are retired.

 

[jswordy]

Five years in, the '18 Brickmason has lost about 90% of the prickly tang of the Zin, and that lets the other mellower wines come forward. Smooth with just a bit of that zing on the back of the palette. Quite a change from '18. I think it is probably peak right now. We'll see.

UNDER EDIT: I see this wine can still be bought at $16 or so.

 

[Boatboy24]

70 degrees and sunny in November? Break out the flip flops and Jimmy Buffett playlist. I needed to break in my new cocktail shaker, and this was a great excuse.

 

[jswordy]

70 degrees and sunny in November? Break out the flip flops and Jimmy Buffett playlist. I needed to break in my new cocktail shaker, and this was a great excuse.

View attachment 107154

I can be there in ... uhhhh ... 15 hours!

 

[Hazelemere]

Pacific Marechal Foch 2023

This is ready to sulphite for the first time after malolactic fermentation and go into my cooler to drop tartrate crystals. It is Marechal Foch 2023 + Sheridan Syrah 2020 + Chardonnay 2nd run 2023. Foch and 2nd run were fermented with 71B. Syrah was fermented with RC212. Here are my comments:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good clean nose

Tannin - good

Acid - slightly high but not by much. Dropping tartrates should improve it.

Flavour - this is the best Foch I've ever made. I've tasted excellent Foch but have never made one. Given enough time this could be better than decent. What a pleasant surprise! I'll use 71B on Foch in the future. This is 15 Syrah + 8 second Run Sheridan Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 (no water no sugar at SG 1.092) + 55 Marechal Foch homegrown at SG 1.094.

 

[Boatboy24]

I can be there in ... uhhhh ... 15 hours!

Just in time for a Bloody Mary.

 

[jswordy]

Just in time for a Bloody Mary.

Yep. I have done that drive all in one trip many, many times. I'd be ready for one Bloody Mary, and then – clunk! Asleep! But you are correct about the weather. It is going to be 80+ here by Wednesday.

 

[Hazelemere]

Black Iris Framboise 2023

My son in law who is a fully dedicated winemaker apprentice for over 14 years suggested this blend. He is becoming a very good winemaker. I am thrilled to have a son in law who really wants to be a better winemaker and has the smarts, diligence and joy of the whole experience joie de vivre to actually get to that place. He loves excellent wine and is getting better and better at his craft. He is at a place where occasionally he makes me better. Soulful family winemaking actually KILLS!!!!

This is 2/3 of (68% blackberries, 32% pitted wild cherries) with 1/3 organic frozen raspberries spiked into a 25 bottle carboy with 2 bottles of French Chambord liqueur.

Back to his blend i.e. this wine in a glass...here are my comments:

Appearance - deep purple red

Smell - beautiful complex nose

Tannin - fine

Acid - fine

Flavour - beautiful fruit wine combo, perfectly balanced. Really good as a table wine. My son in law killed it!!!

Bottom line: I can make 2 cases of this i.e. IMHO a sensational fruit table wine

PS The best part of this is that our family does SECRET SANTAS for Xmas so we only give one senior in our tribe a gift. I got my daughter to gift and I know she will love this wine so I'll give her at at least 6 and maybe as many as 12.

PSS Winemaking should be fun. Let the people who drink your wines help you choose any blends in whole or part. My wife and daughter helped me destem 660 lbs of grapes in 36 hours which is a total blessing for me.

Last words - show your significant others respect and for those who like wine, try to make wine for their palate that you might not make for yourself. i.e. learn how to make wines for all palates.

This is a really good website which I appreciate.

I've learned valuable things that I did not know.

Bless you all with your winemaking adventure


Namaste


Klaus

 

[Hazelemere]

Framboise 2023

This is from a 25 bottle carboy of raspberry wine containing 2 bottles of French Chambord black raspberry liqueur. I have 15 left and will give my daughter 6 as a Xmas present leaving my 9 to share. Here are my comments on this wine:

Appearance - clear deep rose-red

Smell - fantastic nose. I can smell the Chambord.

Tannin - good

Acid - for raspberry wine this is perfect or nearly perfect

Flavour - this is the best raspberry wine that I have ever tasted winning "Best of Show" against 200 winemakers each year over 2 consecutive years with raspberry wine that wasn't as good as this.

I give it a perfect score of 10/10 i.e. my best wine ever in over 55 years of winemaking. This is a fantastic wine.

 

[Boatboy24]

 

[milw]

Trying a local mead as my first batches age

 

[winemanden]

Framboise 2023
I give it a perfect score of 10/10 i.e. my best wine ever in over 55 years of winemaking. This is a fantastic wine.

Looks GREAT, but, I would never give it a perfect score. I'm not criticizing your taste or judgement. It's just that you can't improve on perfect, and I'm sure you'll keep on trying!

 

[Hazelemere]

Black Iris Foch Syrah 2020, 2023

This is Black Iris (68% wild blackberries, 32% pitted wild cherries with Sheridan Syrah 2020 (salvaged from a burnt rubber nose from MLF gone awry) plus 2023 homegrown Marechal Foch ~8% Syrah, 5% Marechal Foch and about 73% Black Iris. I can make 2 cases of this as a house red which I will do. Here are my comments;

Appearance - inky purple

Nose - good wild cherry dominant

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - good, rich dark dry fruit wine which will age. Has a bottle of Bols cherry liqueur in it which is noticeable and gives it a really nice finish. I'll definitely make 2 cases of this and possibly as many as 4. This is balanced and tasty. I'll mix Foch and/or Regent in the future to make decent house reds from fruit that I grow or can pick in my neighbourhood.

I'll bottle it as Pacific Black Iris 2023

 

[Hazelemere]

Tripleberry Chambord 2022

This glass is from my very last bottle of fruit port from wild blackberries, homegrown raspberries, dried elderberries on oak with French Chambord liqueur.

I'll rebottle some of this in a split (half bottle).
Here are my comments:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - fruit bomb, really good nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - really good fruit port. Too sweet as a table wine but as a fruit port its fine. It would be good in a crepe marinade or with a sauce for roasted duck or goose. Would also be good on top of mince meat tarts for Xmas. I think it would kill in roasted goose gravy.

 

[jswordy]

Schlafly English Style Pale Ale. Tasty stuff, very reminiscent of a recipe I used to make back when I was making ales.

 

[cmason1957]

Schlafly English Style Pale Ale. Tasty stuff, very reminiscent of a recipe I used to make back when I was making ales.

View attachment 107411

I was pretty sure you would like it. They make some tasty brews.

 

[winemaker81]

Mrs. WM81 purchased a tenderloin, which I processed this afternoon. We got three pkg of 2 steaks, one package of 4 smaller steaks, and one package of bits-n-pieces for stir fry from it. I put the ends and any bits-n-pieces in a pile, and this is always for stir fry.

Last month I purchased the Costco wine Advent calendar, which they're now labeling as Wines Around the World. Mrs. WM81 doesn't care for red wine and asked me to get her a white. I spotted an Italian rose and snagged it. She mock-grumbled at me for getting her a rose when she asked for a white. Then she took a sip and her face lit up! She's on her second glass ... and we haven't started dinner yet.

The Costco wine boxes are a good value -- each split is $4 USD, and all the ones I had last year were at least "good". The only drawback is these are little known wines (in the USA) so we'll never find them again. If Costco still has the box in stock, I will buy another one, as it's a great value.

The Cabernet is from Laithwaite, and as I've said in the past, the least wines I've purchased from them have been good. This one is very nice.

 

[jswordy]

Here's a Paso Robles sleeper, the 2018 Under the Gun Grenache by Levo, known more for their Syrah. I bought one "What the hell" bottle at $15 and change, and grew more intrigued when I saw it selling as high as $49 elsewhere. It laid in the cellar awhile but I pulled it out as a sunset watching wine tonight. Big bold bouquet that overflows the resting glass to surround and beckon the drinker. Well integrated and mellow, yet intense and concentrated to satisfy my taste for bolder wines. There is no edge to it, but yet it retains structure. Very, very nice. Shoulda bought a case!