We wound up going through 5 bottles of home brew, and here they are, in order of consumption (and inebriation).
2015 Elderberry Blackberry Rosé was the starter, chosen because it is pretty reliable. But it was strangely too heavy for a warm evening on the back porch. Can a wine have too much body? At the end of the evening the bottle was empty.
2015 Lychee is as popular as ever. Well balanced, semi-dry, plenty of lychee aroma and flavor. Jamie wants a bottle for her birthday. My parents friends have requested 3 cases. Before bottling this wine, I absolutely agonized over the acid adjustments. It would seem that it was worth it.
2016 Blend 1 was just bottled last weekend. It is 50% Syrah, 50% elderberry and I'm very happy with this result. The Syrah (from grapes) came out smooth and uber-fruity but too thin and light. The elderberry brings the color back. The taste is just what you would expect from this blend, equal amounts of elderberry and fruity Syrah. I need a clever name for this blend.
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| Bottled wine from last weekend |
2016 Blend 2 was also just bottled. 70% Syrah, 15% elderberry, 15% blackberry. Elderberry contributes some color and just a little background earthiness to contrast the fruitiness of the other flavors. I hit this with a little extra KMS before bottling because the Syrah underwent MLF and the blackberry has all of that malic acid. So far so good. Another empty bottle at Happy Hour.
Finally someone went into the cellar and came back with 2015 Blueberry. I am not fond of this wine. It is made with red grape concentrate, and I simply can't get past the Concord. Saturday morning, even after the second rinse of the bottle, I could still smell the Concord grape. Naturally everyone loved it.
