Between the dog, the job, the garden, the cooking, and the moderating, it's been a busy summer. I've also been harvesting the local bounty most people walk right past and turning it into wines. So, I have cycled wild blackberries (supplemented with store bought), chokecherries, and sumac, yes, sumac through my primary fermenter and have a gallon of each in secondary carboys.
The blackberry and cherry are both deep red to purplish, but the sumac is red like a lollipop! The blackberry should make a decent wine. Now, the chokecherry is supposed to take a few years in the bottle to lose its astringency. And the sumac is supposed to stay really, really tart forever. Guinea pigs?
My primary is currently empty, I've been thinking of doing a jalapeno wine for chili and such. And for spaghetti sauce with zip. I should do an apple, there are free apples all over the place right now.
