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By Mark Zeiger, August 10, 2016

As much as I try to carefully document my wine work, every now and then I get some surprises. Such a one came Monday.

I saw in my planner that I needed to rack a couple of batches of last spring’s birch wine and check them for possible bottling. According to the recipe I use, birch wine started in March and April should be ready to bottle by August. For that reason, I grew curious why I had scheduled these two particular batches, even though I had done nothing with the ones that came before.

A quick review of the wine diary showed me that I’d missed scheduling some of the previous batches. So, that rainy morning, I discovered I had five gallons of birch wine to rack and bottle!

Five gallons of birch wine, good to go (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

Continue reading 'Birch Batch'»

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By Mark Zeiger, September 23, 2015

Saint Matthew’s Day, September 21st is a traditional weather marker associated with the grape harvest:

“Saint Matthew’s Day, bright and clear, brings good wine in the next year.”

Well, crap. Not this year, not in our region last Monday.

I’m not deterred, though. We don’t grow our own grapes. We’re enjoying the fruits of our wine making, even as we move into another season of more intense activity.

A glass of Homestead Red and “termination dust” (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

Continue reading 'Autumn Wines'»