Knock knock.....
Who is there?
Banana, banana
Knock knock.....
Who is there
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana, banana
What's in your glass tonight?
- Thread starter Boatboy24
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
Who is there?
Banana, banana
Knock knock.....
Who is there
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana, banana
retaste and update:
I have a second bottle of Metaxa which is Greek raisin brandy that I've using to top up this wine every time that I rack a sample in a glass to taste it so it doesn't referment in the bottle having reached 18+% alcohol on EC-1118 yeast (I'm guessing that I am at 19+% alcohol right now). I have it on medium toast American oak cubes and will leave it alone until Easter and then bottle it i.e. 25 bottles.
Appearance - inky purple
Smell - good, intense smell of wild cherries and cassis (black currant liqueur) with a bit of elderberry in the background. I can smell the Greek raisin brandy now.
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this is delicious fruit port. The sweetness level is perfect. I would absolutely make it again. The aftertaste is really good. I've made grape ports but I like this better. I only picked one wild cherry tree this year and have access to 3. In 2025 I'll try to pick all 3 alone or with one of my friends. That way I can make more of this or a second wine that uses more blackberries and possibly some raspberries along with the dried elderberries. Metaxa seemed to work well on this so I'll use it again together with French Creme de Cassis liqueur which is 16% alcohol.
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Found this is the cellar. It was a Costco find from a few years ago. This was excellent and a perfect paring with last nights Green Chile' Cheeseburger!
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- 930
A bit fruit forward for me, but good color and nice aftertaste. 2021, 14.5%
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retaste:
Apple Cyser 2023
appearance - clear, yellow gold
smell - good honey nose which lingers (unpasteurized blueberry blossom honey used to chaptalize homegrown russet juice)
tannin - good from honey and russets
acid - good
flavour - good, rich complex flavour with an aftertaste of apple skin tannins. I rate it as very good. This has an SG of 1.000 but doesn't taste sweet.
bottom line - these homegrown organic apple wines ground and pressed without water and chaptalized with cane sugar and/or unpasteurized honey e.g. blueberry, raspberry or cranberry make really good house wines within 6 to 12 months and sensational cooking wines. We run out of them really fast which is fine so our premium grape wines can age properly. I'm absolutely committed to making apple wine this year. This is really good for making prawn linguine sauce by using it to keep onions from burning as they cook in oil so they can caramelize.
Perfect pairing with Thanksgiving turkey. DNS!
Carneros Pinot Noir can be sensational. Looks like you got a good one.
Our younger son and his wife hosted Thanksgiving for our elder son, his girlfriend, Mrs. WM81, and myself.
Wednesday I gave my younger son his belated birthday present and early Christmas present:
If anyone likes peat, the Wee Beatie is great! If anyone doesn't like peat, the Wee Beastie is still great, but you won't like it.
Thanksgiving dinner was 2018 Metheglin, 2021 Riesling, and 2023 Vidal (no pictures). The Metheglin is holding strong, the Riesling (FWK) is at its peak, and the Vidal is very nice. After dinner my elder son brought out the last bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon I made for my younger son's wedding reception (WE Reserve kit). It's just starting to decline, which is good for a 4.5 yo kit that had no extras added to it. Still very good but it's good that it's the last bottle.
Yesterday we snacked and ate leftover turkey & stuff, broaching my elder son's Carmenere (WE Reserve kit), the second wine he made on his own. This one is holding very nicely, which is good as he has a case left. He's been rationing it.
The last wine in the group is our 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 80% CS, 10% CF, and 10% Merlot.
EDIT: There is an addition -- our 2022 Rhone blend, which is Grenache with Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Mourvedre. We have a LOT of this remaining, which is great as it came out great.
Wednesday I gave my younger son his belated birthday present and early Christmas present:
If anyone likes peat, the Wee Beatie is great! If anyone doesn't like peat, the Wee Beastie is still great, but you won't like it.
Thanksgiving dinner was 2018 Metheglin, 2021 Riesling, and 2023 Vidal (no pictures). The Metheglin is holding strong, the Riesling (FWK) is at its peak, and the Vidal is very nice. After dinner my elder son brought out the last bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon I made for my younger son's wedding reception (WE Reserve kit). It's just starting to decline, which is good for a 4.5 yo kit that had no extras added to it. Still very good but it's good that it's the last bottle.
Yesterday we snacked and ate leftover turkey & stuff, broaching my elder son's Carmenere (WE Reserve kit), the second wine he made on his own. This one is holding very nicely, which is good as he has a case left. He's been rationing it.
The last wine in the group is our 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 80% CS, 10% CF, and 10% Merlot.
EDIT: There is an addition -- our 2022 Rhone blend, which is Grenache with Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Mourvedre. We have a LOT of this remaining, which is great as it came out great.
retaste:
Appearance - inky purple
Smell - excellent complex nose. Gorgeous wild cherry and elderberry smell.
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this is absolutely stunning, not because I made it and think I'm hot sh... It is the quality of the pitted wild frozen organic cherries, dried elderberries, a few wild organic blackberries, French Creme de Cassis black currant liqueur and Greek Metaxa brandy at SG 1.008 fermented with EC-1118. I've never made this before and can't believe how good it is. I score it 10 out of 10 i.e. IMHO a perfect wine. The medium toast American oak cubes took it to another level. I can't wait to make this again. Part of the best fun of winemaking is experimenting and having an experiment hit the jackpot. I used 1 bottle of Cassis and 2 bottles of Metaxa on a 25 bottle port carboy. 30 medium toast oak cubes soaked for about 45 days. I won't change a thing in this recipe when I make it again. I used 1 lb Bulgarian dried elderberries because I couldn't get Oregon dried elderberries and picked all of Iris' tree wild cherries (11.5 lbs pitted) with her husband Rick plus 2.5 lbs wild frozen blackberries to make this. My son in law tasted it and says that it is the best Port that he has ever tasted. My neighbours Kendall and Barbara also each have the same wild cherry tree which is a total blessing to me even though the wild black cherries are really small and a pain in the ass to pit. So the lesson for me is to remember "no pain...no gain".
Good luck to everyone on this site with their wines.
Namaste
Klaus
.
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retaste from a bottle in my cooler:
Regent Pacific Black Iris 2023
2/3 Regent 1/3 Pacific Black Iris
Here are my tasting comments:
Appearance - clear, inky purple
Smell - good, clean nose. Wild cherries, blackberries, brownies, red and black currants
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this is a decent, balanced house red. I rate it as "good", not very good or excellent but certainly "good" totally drinkable red wine. I will also use it as a cooking wine for French recipes that call for red wine. I'll continue to blend wild blackberries with dried elderberries and Regent or Marechal Foch with medium toast American oak cubes to make house red wines going forward. I'll ferment with RC212/71B blends. I may save all of the wild cherries for Port.
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Many thanks to @Boatboy24 for reminding me I had one of these laying around in the Cellar! Definitely a 5 Star QPR wine for sure. Drinks well above its price point.
retaste: 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 - good, complex nose, hard to describe, smoked meat
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this is intense, full on red wine. I have 2 left which I will try to let age and drink on special occasions over the next 3-5 years. This is at least very good with the potential to be excellent. So I'll try to keep my mitts out of it so it can become excellent or very good-excellent. It has a good long finish and enough acid + tannin to age. I get the tannin in the aftertaste with the acid which is a good sign. This is primo red IMHO. Petite Sirah especially ultra ripe Petite Sirah like Lodi Mettler Vineyard's is tailor made for Cabernet Franc and or Cabernet Sauvignon. The Petite Sirah in this wine was sky high brix but un-raisined, tasty and fragrant like Italian Amarone. If you like Amarone, grow French American hybrid grapes and can buy Lodi Petite Sirah, including Mettler, if you are lucky then make a Lodi-French hybrid blend. Any red hybrid can work with Lodi red wine grapes. Blending Lodi reds with hybrids gives you much better balance in the reds i.e. acid, brix, balance. My guess is Minnesota and New York red hybrids will work also but I'm guessing because I only grow Regent and Marechal Foch.
Have fun
Wild things
You all make my heart sing
Wild things
Klaus
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lucky you! It sounds like a really good GSM wine.
Another Costco find in the cellar. DNS! Paired perfectly with Birria tacos with all the normal accouterments...... 
retaste while using this as a cooking wine for lamb shank osso bucco (pan deglaze) with fresh home-grown garden sage, oregano, thyme and garlic with onions, carrots, peas, mandarin orange zest, fresh homegrown parsley, bay leaf, seasoned salt, diced roma tomatoes, unsalted beef stock, pepper and garlic mashed potatoes plus peas.
appearance - clear, deep rose
smell - really good fruit-bomb nose that lingers, honey and sour cherries dominate
tannin - good
acid - very slightly high but just the way I like it
flavour - For 5 years of age this is a really tasty melomel with a really good aftertaste that lingers. It still tastes fresh and fruity. I'll save the rest to age after I give my daughter who is a gourmet cook at least 2 to drink and cook with. This is a really good way to use pitted sour cherries IMHO. I will absolutely make it again given the chance.
By the way the Lamb Osso Buco killed!
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retaste:
This is my wife Carol's house wine i.e. everyday red (I make it for her palate which is different than mine):
2020 - Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Sheridan Syrah
2021 - Dineen Cabernet Franc, Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi Mettler Vineyard Petite Sirah
2022 - Marechal Foch, Regent (both homegrown)
My comments:
Appearance - purple
Smell - good, very complex, fruity, smokey, lingering
Tannin - good
Acid - good
Flavour - this is rich and tasty with a long slightly tannic finish. I rate it as very good.
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