What's in your glass tonight?

[David Violante]

Tonight is a Gin Old Fashioned with this absolute gem… and I love their story, including “Bees Knees Week”. This version of their gin is barrel aged and has a distinctive raw honey flavor with oak.

 

[winemaker81]

Last night I opened a bottle of my 2022 Tempranillo 5% blend -- supposedly it's 95% Tempranillo, 5% of a Rhone Blend (Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Syrah). Due to barrel topup, it's actually 91% Tempranillo, 9% Rhone blend.

It spent 12 months in barrel and has been in the bottle since November 2023.

Per usual, I sampled straight from the bottle and through a duck-neck aerator. The straight wine was a bit acidic and rough. The aerated wine was better, but had an off flavor that disappointed me. Good thing I only have 2 cases, right?

Today I poured a glass from the bottle (through the aerator) while starting dinner. WOW! It's a totally different wine after setting on the counter (half full) for 24 hours.

Also today I opened a new bottle for cooking, and experienced the same result as last night. The experience tells me the wine is no where near ready for serving -- it needs another year in the bottle. After that, we'll see how it's doing.

What is it that I say? Patience, Grasshopper.

I also say to taste wines periodically, as it helps us understand how they age.

 

[Boatboy24]

Tonight is a Gin Old Fashioned with this absolute gem… and I love their story, including “Bees Knees Week”. This version of their gin is barrel aged and has a distinctive raw honey flavor with oak.

View attachment 115068

I was at the wedding of my good friend's daughter last weekend. She and her husband had selected a 'Bee's Knees' cocktail as one of the signature drinks at the reception. it was gin, honey and lemon juice. It was pretty good.

 

[Hazelemere]

Retaste of Cyser 2023:

Appearance - clear, yellow gold

Smell - very fragrant from the honey

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - rich, and tasty, slightly sweet, with a long slightly tannic finish from the russet and honey tannin. This is fine but I like it better less sweet. Having said that, everyone's palate is different i.e. this is tailor made for people who like their wines off dry.

retaste:

Appearance - clear, yellow gold

Smell - very fragrant from the honey

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - rich, and tasty, very slightly sweet, with a good aftertaste. Unpasteurized blueberry blossom honey and russets seem to go together.

 

[Hazelemere]

Russet Fizzbomb 2023 (aka Hobo Champagne)

Appearance - golden, fairly clear, lots of tiny bubbles, very foamy on pouring.

Smell - yeasty good Russet apple nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - I wish I had more! If I do I'll have to look for it. My wife likes it too. It is still bubbling after 10 minutes in the glass.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste:

Regent 2023

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good nose, cocoa, black cherries, prunes

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is not "very good" or "excellent" but it is certainly "good" with an interesting aftertaste which is totally different than the Marechal Foch described above. It tastes like it needs to age to soften and become more complex. This year when I make it I'll leave it alone in storage for at least 2 years to see how it ages. Im trying to create very good Regent and maybe I can. So the message is to leave this wine alone to age in a cooler at 57 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hope you have fantastic luck with your wines.

Namaste

Klaus

Retaste:

retaste:

Marechal Foch 2023

Home grown organic hand-destemmed and uncrushed with RC212/71B yeast combo with medium toast American oak during malolactic fermentation. SG 1.092 at ferment (no chaptalization). Grapes were in really nice condition.

Here are my comments on this wine:

Appearance: inky purple

Smell - rich cocoa, plums and venison

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but that should let it age

Flavour - this is good decent house red, the best unblended one I've made. 71B/RC212 yeast combo seems to improve it. This was oaked with medium toast American oak and went through natural malolactic fermentation.

retaste:

Appearance: inky purple

Smell - smoked duck, venison, cocoa, prune plums

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is good to now good-very good house red, the best unblended one I've ever made in over 30 years. 71B/RC212 yeast combo seems to improve it a lot. This was oaked with medium toast American oak cubes and went through natural malolactic fermentation. If it ages it should improve even more. The aftertaste is long and good. I'll do the same ferment this year 2 ways 1) without wild cherries 2) with wild cherries. This year's blackberry crop is tasty but miniscule so I may not ferment any blackberries. We use them to make juice and blackberry crumble with transparent apples.

I'm tempted to make Marechal Foch Port with the wild cherries using EC1118 yeast and leave the cherries out of the table wine. I've decided to do this experience..................try to make a killer Port!

i.e. Marechal Foch Wild Cherry Port 2024

Iris is my neighbour who has the wild cherry tree with killer wild black cherries. Her mate Rick helped me pick the killer wild cherries.

I will do this with EC1118 yeast from the start with pitted wild cherries from the start. I think that I will add dried elderberries to really drive it home.

I've been making wines for 56 years and only learned how make really decent wines for 28 years. i.e. I made a lot of crap for a long time! I think that I know how to not make crap. Having said that I can occasionally screw up but that doesn't happen very often now. I really focus on getting better as a winemaker and I have to say to say that all of you have helped me to do that.

Namaste

Klaus

 

[Hazelemere]

Chardonnay Ambrosia 2021-2022

This is Chardonnay spiked with fresh ground and pressed Okanagan Ambrosia apples

Appearance - clear, lemon yellow

Smell - good nose. Ambrosia improves it.

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly flat but not by much (my wife will like it so I'll leave the rest for her)

Flavour- this is tasty, low acid with a pleasant aftertaste. If I used Ambrosia again I'd cut it into something with more acid like my Russet apple as apple wine or with honey as a cyser or even 2nd run white wine grapes.

 

[Hazelemere]

Menagerie 2020-2021

Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon, Sheridan Syrah, Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, Dineen Cabernet Franc 2020 with Mettler Petite Sirah (74%) - Regent (homegrown) 26% 2021

I have 4 left. Here are my comments on this wine:

Appearance - purple ink

Smell - delicate, complex nose

Tannin - really good

Acid - slightly high but only very slightly which tells me that this wine (last 4 bottles) need to age e.g. (8 years! drink one every 2 years)

Flavour - this is intense, full on red wine. It tastes like it can only improve with age and needs to age. My tastebuds tell me that this has serious legs because of the good tannin and slightly high acid level. So I'll leave it alone for at least 2 years before I taste it again. If it lasts 8 years without starting to oxidize then it will be 11-12 years old. I'm tempted to not taste it again for another 4 years with something like prime rib, roast lamb or roast goose at a family dinner. This has the potential to be sensational when it peaks but right now I'd rate it young and very good.

24 hours later i.e. next day from the aerated bottle from yesterday:

Smell - more intense than yesterday - cocoa, chinese 5 spice, cola

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but that is ok since the last 4 bottles will age

Flavour - this is really intense and tasty with a really good aftertaste. However it tastes like it could be even better i.e. excellent if it is allowed to age, I'm guessing 4 years. This wine tastes like it can handle 4 years of aging no-problemo. It is a shame to drink heavy duty red wines too young.........so I won't.

I felt like tasting it again so I think I'll bottle into a split to leave 3.5 bottles to age:

Smell - cocoa, chinese 5 spice, cola, elderberries

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but okay

Flavour - rich and tasty with a good aftertaste. Tannin lingers in the mouth so it should have no problem aging via tannin and acid.

 

[wood1954]

2017 cherry/ plum blend. Very nice flavor and aroma, it tastes somewhat sweet but it’s a dry wine.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste:

Black Iris Foch Syrah 2022-23

wild blackberries, wild black cherries (pitted), dried elderberries, Sheridan Syrah (repair job), homegrown organic Marechal Foch

Appearance - inky purple, slight fizz

Smell - complex, cherries overpower the Syrah nose and work well with the Foch together with the blackberries and dried elderberries

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - decent, rich house red. I'll try it again, this year, without any Syrah as Black Iris Foch 2024 as well as Black Iris Regent 2024. I'll also try Regent on its own as a rose for the first time. We won't be buying red wine grapes this year in the fall. The Okanagan wineries will probably buy them all and clean us out so we'll have to make our own reds from our own fruit and blend or not Mettler Petite Sirah - Regent (74-26) 2020 in carboy, Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 and Dineen Petite Verdot 2023 this summer together with Australian Orange Muscat juice in pails and Chilean Viognier juice in pails alone or blended with Washington Sheridan Vineyard Chardonnay (butter popcorn smell) to give it more of a Carneros-Sonoma tropical fruit bomb smell. We may even try a bit of Foch into the Petite Sirah to boost the acid and complexity.

retaste:

Black Iris Foch Syrah 2022-23

wild blackberries, wild black cherries (pitted), dried elderberries, Sheridan Syrah (repair job), homegrown organic Marechal Foch

Appearance - inky purple, slight fizz

Smell - complex, wild cherries, caramel, cocoa, Chinese 5 spice, roast duck, marzipan

Tannin - good

Acid- good

Flavour - this is interesting. I won't make it again because the Syrah was a train wreck one-off which this blend was an attempt to fix. This is a decent, rich house red with a unique and interesting aftertaste. I think that it would make a killer marinade for duck or any wild meat - venison, wild boar, elk or moose. I'll keep what I have left (a few bottles) as a marinade for wild meat. My son in law and his brothers are hunters.

 

[Hazelemere]

2017 cherry/ plum blend. Very nice flavor and aromaView attachment 115298, it tastes somewhat sweet but it’s a dry wine.

congratulations!

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste:

Petite Pinnacle 2021, 2023

Here are my comments on this blend in a glass from my cooler:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good rich nose - black licorice, cocoa, plums, cigar box, tar

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - intense, rich. the Cab improves the Petite Sirah by giving it more balance (lower alcohol and higher acid). This is my wife's primo red. She'll have it with a really tasty fresh cross rib pot roast with potatoes, carrots, peas and corn that had fresh garden herbs sage, lemon thyme and oregano plus salt free beef stock and regent black iris cooking wine put into it with sauteed garlic and sauteed homegrown organic young onions including the green parts, smoked paprika, tamari and worcestershire sauce..

retaste (I have 6 left after this):

retaste:

Petite Pinnacle 2021, 2023

Here are my comments on this blend in a glass from my cooler:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good rich nose - black licorice, prunes, cocoa, plums, cigar box, tar

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - intense, rich. the Cab improves the Petite Sirah by giving it more balance (lower alcohol and higher acid). This is my wife's primo red. I'll age it for her so she can drink it with a really good steak. She'll have it today with a really tasty broiled prime rib steak, with garlic mashed home-grown organic potatoes and garlic with fresh organic homegrown pole wax beans and a really tasty organic blackberry apple crumble with vanilla or chocolate ice cream. I mention organic all of the time because trust me it makes a real difference e.g. no glyphosate (Round-up) in your gut, no synthetic fungicides in your stomach. I know I could kill all of the wasps and hornets in my vineyard with synthetic insecticides but I'd rather trap them simultaneously with 3 different traps 1) strawberry jam jars 2) yellow jacket pheromones 3) W-H-Y traps. I'll cull damaged grapes from wasps and/or powdery mildew by hand before I crush and press without any remorse. i.e. I'll joyfully get what I get!

 

[Hazelemere]

Petite Pinnacle in a glass 50/50 with Black Iris Foch Syrah

Appearance - clear, inky purple

Smell - good clean nose, very complex, hard to describe

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - rich and tasty red. It has tannin in the aftertaste. This blend in a glass is fine

Moraine 2023

This is homegrown hand destemmed and uncrushed 50/50 blend of organic Marechal Foch and Regent, grown in glacial moraine soil 3 degree southeast slope fermented with RC21/71B yeast blend vitamin B containing nutrient. Vines are fed annually with kelp meal, fish bone meal, sulpo-mag, rock phosphate and trace elements including born. No synthetic pesticides including herbicides are used. All vines are mulched with slow-released fertilized lawn clippings to keep down the weeds. I rototill or how weeds between rows. I have ~130 grape vines

Here are my comments on this wine in a split"

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good clean nose, a bit non-descript

Tannin - good

Acid - good, maybe slightly high but the acid will help this age

Flavour - surprise! This I can rate as "good", not very good or excellent but certainly good. It has a promising aftertaste. To improve it even more I think that I would cut it with 2nd run homegrown white wines with no added water or sugar i.e. skins from first pressing mixed with first run sediment plus pectic enzyme to extract smells. IMHO this is the best homegrown red that I've ever made and I will work going forward with this combo together with the 2nd run white wine to try to make it even better i.e. maybe.....................very good?! I might try some of it with K1V1116/71B yeast combo vs RC212/71B yeast combo with and without 2nd run homegrown white vinifera to make 4 different versions of this wine which I will absolutely do to learn my craft at the ripe old age of 74.

retaste:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - good clean nose, a bit non-descript right out of my cooler

Tannin - good

Acid - good, maybe slightly high but the acid will help this age

Flavour - surprise! This I can rate as "good", not very good or excellent but certainly good. It has a promising aftertaste.

 

[NorCal]

Bottle I swapped with @4score. Excellent Zin.

 

[jswordy]

Well, it started out with Sapporo, then Kirin Ichiban, and now Rolling Rock as a nightcap.

 

[Hazelemere]

Pacific Muscat Spatlese/Auslese 2023-2024

This is a blend in a glass from my cooler of a very fragrant but slightly flat homegrown Siegerrebe-Ortega Auslese (SG 1.093) blended about 40/60 with my 2024 Australian Orange Muscat SG 1.083 from Fresco juice. Here are my comments:

Appearance - pale lemon yellow

Smell - good clean rich muscat nose that lingers

Tannin - good

Acid - good (not flat at all)

Flavour - this is good rich and tasty muscat. It has a good aftertaste and tastes like it will improve if it ages.

So now I'll try it blended 60/40 with Washington Sheridan Vineyard Chardonnay fermented with 71B yeast to boost the acid since 71B drops malic acid. Here are my comments on this blend:

Pacific Muscat Chardonnay

Appearance - lemon yellow

Smell - very nice the Muscat improves the "buttered popcorn" Washington Chardonnay and the Chardonnay makes the Muscat blend more complex

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is really tasty with a good aftertaste and long finish. My son in law and I have a lot of Sheridan Chardonnay (mostly his) in the cooler to improve and we both made 2024 Fresco Australian Orange Muscat plus Fresco Chilean Viognier. I will be making Siegerrebe with as much Ortega as I can get. I'll certainly make a non-Chardonnay Muscat blend but will also certainly make a Muscat-Washington Chardonnay blend (I will get more Chardonnay as we both blend Siegerrebe-Ortega 2024). We should have enough white wines this year to make some really good Muscat blends. I'll also use any excellent condition white grape skins possibly including a first run Madeleine Angevine and/or Reichensteiner to blend with organic fresh ground and pressed Russet/Cox/King apple juice to make Apple Edelzwicker 2024. If I get a really good Madeleine Angevine (smells like nutmeg at SG 1.085+) I'll make it as a first run and use the skins in the Apple Edelzwicker. If I get a bumper crop of russets I may also make a small batch of Cyser Edelwicker i.e a Cyser Pyment 2024. That actually sounds good. I'll try to make Apple Edelzwicker 2024 (main wine) and Cyser Pyment 2024 (minor wine) e.g. 75/25 split.

Good luck to all of you with your wines!

Namaste

Klaus

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste:

Regent Black Iris 2023

This is a blend in a glass of 50/50 Regent and Black Iris:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - the wild cherries, blackberries and dried elderberries in the Black Iris improve the smell of the Regent to give it an interesting complex nose something like to Spanish Tempranillo (or California Valdepenas)

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this a decent house red. I'd rate it as good. I'd like to try it with more wild cherry and less blackberry.

then I tried this wine blended 2/3 to 1/3 Marechal Foch. Her is what I get from this blend:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - very complex good nose

Tannin - good. The Foch boosts the tannin.

Acid - good

Flavour - this again decent. I rate it as good. It is rich and has a nice finish.

Bottom line 2024 - I think I'll add all of my pitted wild cherries to my Marechal Foch hand destemmed uncrushed at SG 1.098 if I can get it and make a Rose which I have never done out of my Regent with 71B yeast to drop the malic acid. I'll oak the Foch but not the Rose. A Sedelescombe Regent Rose 2015 ranked first in a continental European Rose competition scoring 97 out a 100 points. So I have to try doing that once in my life! My Regent is at least as ripe as British Regent. I'll shoot for SG 1.086+ on the Regent.

My wife tasted Regent Black Iris and scored it 8/10 which is a good score score for her. She said that "it is rich and has lots of flavour." The Black Iris - wild cherries, blackberries and elderberries were fermented with RC212. The Regent was fermented with 71B. This is a no-brainer to make again as her house red.

I'm tasting it right now after it having been opened in the bottle.

Here are my tasting comments after my wife tasted it colder:

Appearance - clear, inky purple

Smell - good clean nose very complex, hard to describe

Tannin - good

Acid - good slightly high but still ok

Flavour - this is fine as a house wine. I rate it as good. It has a unique flavour which is decent with a good aftertaste.

 

[Hazelemere]

Raspberry Melomel Cyser 2020

All homegrown apples, a mixture of Russets, Kings and Cox, were ground and pressed at SG 1.040 and chaptalized with un-pasteurized blueberry blossom honey to SG 1.093 plus pectic enzyme, fermented with EC-1118 yeast and treated mid-ferment with bentonite to remove protein to prevent bottle haze.

Frozen homegrown organic raspberries were thawed with can sugar at 3 lbs sugar per 6 lb raspberries per Imperial gallon of water with pectic enzyme and fermented with EC 1118 yeast at SG 1.086 to SG 0.992. The dry SG 0.992 was chaptalized with the blueberry blossom honey to SG 1.012 with potassium sorbate.

60 parts raspberry melomel at SG 1.012 was blended with 40 parts cyser at SG 1.003 to make this wine blend.

Here are my tasting notes:

Appearance - deep rose with a bit of sediment on the side of the bottles which is easy yo settle (ellagic acid from the raspberries?)

Smell - raspberry and honey smells are present but russet apple smell is dominant are dominant, Smell is decent.

Tannin - high from the russets but ok

Acid - high but suits me as a table wine. I don't like syrupy table wines.

Flavour - intense, interesting, russet dominant, complex melomel cyser. The blueberry blossom honey improves it but the raspberry flavour is dominated by the russets and the honey.

Bottom line - The next time I make it I'll try 80 parts raspberry melomel and 20 parts cyser to get more raspberry flavour and tone down the russets. Having said that, I like it, kind of oddball but intense and interesting as a fruit table wine. Sorry I don't have a photo off my phone yet but when I get it I'll post it.

Here are my re-tasting notes:

Appearance - deep rose

Smell - complex fruity smell, raspberry and honey smells are present but the russet apple smell is now slightly dominant but not by much. There is no trace of oxidation.

Tannin - now the tannin slightly high but still okay from the Russet apple.

Acid - good now

Flavour - intense, interesting, complex melomel cyser. This is actually pretty good right now. The flavour is improving as the russet tannin drops over time together with the acid. This fruit wine is coming into its own at 4 years of age. The russet apple is still dominant but not as much as before. I have 8 left in my cooler and will age them to see how long this wine can last to retain its flavour even if it starts to caramelize in which case it can become a really interesting cooking wine (e.g. roast duck, venison or Chinese 5 spice chicken marinade). Bottom line - this will be fun to age and taste over my guess: the next 4 years.

 

[winemaker81]

When I bottled my 2020 wines in the fall of 2021, I had reserved 4 unoaked liters each of the wines: Merlot, Zinfandel, Vinifera Blend, Meritage, and Meritage Plus. Tonight I popped the cork on a Zinfandel. As I do with these tastings, I poured unaerated and aerated glasses:

Unaerated: Color is bright-n-purple. Smells like Zin. Initial taste is very fruity; however, the tannin a REALLY strong on the sides of the tongue. Distractingly so.

Aerated: Same color and aroma as unaerated. The flavor is markedly different -- much fruitier, and the tannin, while strong, is more subdued and approachable. This wine needs another 2 years in the bottle to mature.

There was no real surprise here, although I expected the tannin would be more relaxed. Funny, I've read articles about how Zin doesn't age well ... wine writers remind me of movie critics ... and that is not a favorable comparison.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste:

Marechal Foch 2023

Home grown organic hand-destemmed and uncrushed with RC212/71B yeast combo with medium toast American oak during malolactic fermentation. SG 1.092 at ferment (no chaptalization). Grapes were in really nice condition.

Here are my comments on this wine:

Appearance: inky purple

Smell - rich cocoa, plums and venison

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but that should let it age

Flavour - this is good decent house red, the best unblended one I've made. 71B/RC212 yeast combo seems to improve it. This was oaked with medium toast American oak and went through natural malolactic fermentation.

retaste:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - rich smoky, slightly charred roasted meat, cocoa, plums and venison

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but that should let it age

Flavour - this is good decent house red, almost as good as Regent Black Iris, the best home made red wine that I've made from homegrown grapes. 71B/RC212 yeast combo seems to improve it. This was oaked with medium toast American oak and went through natural malolactic fermentation. I think that Marechal Foch Black Iris could be very good fermented with the same yeasts. I'll try to make it in 2025 when the blackberry crop comes back to normal. This years blackberry harvest was Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

So then I went into my cooler realizing I had a carboy of Pacific Black Iris 2023 and blended it in a glass about 35/65 with Marechal Foch 2023. This is what that tastes like:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - better more complex nose than Marechal Foch on its own, actually very pleasant

Tannin - good

Acid - very slightly high but not by much

Flavour - this is decent and almost as good as Regent Black Iris. I may do Moraine Black Iris 2025 which would be a Marechal Foch and Regent blend into Black Iris.

Some of you may wonder why I post tasting notes so often. It is partly to teach myself and partly how to teach you to use your fruit/wines in the best possible ways. I am really lucky having access to 4 wild black cherry trees in my neighbourhood and a lot of really good wild blackberries. Your access to fruit will be totally different but the principles are the same. I don't expect you to find wild black cherries. The point I'm making is to do what Winemaker 81 said - taste the fruit that goes into your wines and try his don't aerate/aerate technique which will absolutely teach you about tannin. Pick or buy the best, ripest fruit that you can. e.g. don't pick your own grapes at 18% brix when you can pick them at 20% brix or even higher brix. I never pick grapes below 20% Brix and shoot for 21-23 brix even 24 brix. Crush all fruit in your mouth, taste and smell it. I focus on smell-acid and tannin. e.g. I pick homegrown late season raspberries for wine because they taste and smell better than early season raspberries. We use early season raspberries for juice and late season raspberries for wine. I'm a chemist for over 55 years, with a pH meter and never use it. But I always use my tongue and nose Try to blend smells and flavours to get better results. Be a chef with no preconceived ideas about what to do. If you are lost and have the option do small batches ala Winemaker 81 e.g. regarding a stunning crop of frozen pitted Italian prune plums then make small batches to see what you get before you go bigger scale. If you are lucky and get something really good then try to clone the recipe.

Namaste, wild things

You make my heart sing!

If you are really serious about developing your craft then here are two books to read:

https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Wine-A...25581782&sprefix=emile+peynaud,aps,221&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Maki...25581782&sprefix=emile+peynaud,aps,221&sr=8-2