Wine, Wine, Wine

My boss JD and his wife Laurie live the kind of life I admire. They have a nice chunk of land out in the country where they raise chickens and have endless amounts of fruit trees and berry bushes. Over the past few weeks, they've been harvesting these fruits and have begun the process of making wine. My grandparents used to make their own wine, usually dandelion, apple jack, or some sort of wild grape or berry, but when my grandfather died last year, so did the wine production.

I've always wanted to learn the process so I could carry on the tradition. After expressing my interest to JD, he suggested I come out and help him for the night. After all, hands on is really the only way to learn how to do something right.

We cut up a giant tub of pears, processed them and filled up a garbage bag and froze it until it's ready to be used. We bottled 24 bottles of black raspberry wine, which is delicious and has the most pungent yet wonderful smell. I learned all about fermentation and aging, and I learned how to use a corker!

It was a really great experience and I'm hoping to go back in two weeks when they finally empty the carboy of blackberry wine.