Recipes from the Past
Merlot & Petit Verdot. Ho! Tis that time of year. Once again harvest is upon us. The last several weeks have been dedicated to all things grape fermentation. Cleaning. Picking. Crushing. Pressing. Cajoling family and friends to come and help. And cleaning once again. This year we headed out to the vineyard early on a... Continue Reading →
Apple wine almost ready for bottling! #Harvest #Fall #Homewinemaker #Fruitwine
Harvesting Merlot Grapes. No Gym Membership Needed. Harvesting and processing 200 lbs. of grapes is brutal work. Yesterday started at 6:00 am out in what can only be described as an idyllic vineyard setting. Fog gently receding over the rolling hills covered with oaks the occasional cow. The CA wine grape harvest season is in... Continue Reading →
Berry Season! This raspberry wine recipe comes from A New System of Domestic Cookery (1810). What I really like about it is that (1) it's a simple recipe that's pretty much spot-on in terms of process, and (2) it's small batch. Typically these recipes come in batches of 50 gallons, so this one is a... Continue Reading →
Currant Wine Recipe. The bounty of summer is upon us! Time to think about making fruit wines. A week or so ago, one of the young men working at the famers market asked the lady in front of us if she'd like some free strawberries and handed her a flat - told her she could... Continue Reading →
Wine Making Book 1835. Incredible discovery for those into antique cookbooks and home wine making (a.k.a - me - someone has to have esoteric tastes!). Found it through a reference made in a separate cookbook from 1837 - as in: "Here are some wine recipes, but if you really want to learn more, go read... Continue Reading →
Personal Note: As a hobby winemaker, this is lovely prefatory material. When reading through cookbooks predating Prohibition, they almost universally include recipes for wine, beer, and malts - not to mention the various hot toddy recipes. Not so past 1920. Following Prohibition, there is a conspicuous absence of recipes for home brewing in your general... Continue Reading →
