Country Wines — A Winemaker’s Garden of Eden
Imagine your favorite fruit — or vegetable(!) at its peak of ripeness captured in a glass
When I first moved to California, my experience with wine was limited. Living in California, though, provides an easy education in the subject — almost through osmosis! Taking a weekend trip to Sonoma or the Napa Valley was a common occurrence for my husband and I.
We’d covet each sip of every exceptional wine in the tasting rooms of the vineyards we visited.
Our experiences in Napa and Sonora developed our passion for Pinot Noir and Merlot. Such variety, range of flavor and nuance in the traditional grape wines. Then, expand that a hundred fold when beginning to delve into the world of Country Wines!
Any fruit — or even vegetable can make a great wine
A Country Wine is any non-grape wine. Most people don’t know or perhaps don’t realize that any fruit or vegetable can be the basis of a magnificent wine! An exception is the kiwi that creates a sharp crystal which is dangerous when ingested. But I can attest that a glass of a clear, fruity Apple, Mango or Pineapple wine makes up for that exception!
We first learned about Country Wines after moving to Tennessee and joining the local Wine Club. The Wine Club explored the local vineyards’ wines, but also educated us on wines from around the world. Yet, it wasn’t the Wine Club itself that introduced us to Country Wines.
Instead, one of the Wine Club members made the introduction.
The year before, we had visited some local vineyards in Tennessee and Missouri. During those visits we had tasted some wines claiming to be “Strawberry” or “Raspberry”. They wren’t true fruit wines. They were red grape wines that had juice or flavoring added and christened with fancy names. Neither hubby nor I were impressed with the wines, preferring the vineyard’s more traditional line of Muscadine and Muscat.
Our first taste of a true fruit wine
After one of the Wine Club’s meetings, a member began talking about the Strawberry Wine they fermented. With our earlier experience at a professional winery, we were not inclined to be interested in a homemaker’s wine and repeating that experience.
But our interest was piqued when he said,
“Sipping a glass of my wine is like biting into a fresh strawberry.”
WOW.
Had never heard a claim like that before! We accepted his invitation, and met at his house the following week.
And he was correct.
Each rose-colored sip of his wine was a mind-blowing experience. The wine had captured the strawberry flavor at the peak of ripeness.
The experience transported you to that exact moment that you first bit into the perfect strawberry in the middle of spring.
That sip began our journey into the making of Country Wines.
When making a Country Wine, we’re not trying to create a flavored grape wine — we’re trying to create a full-bodied fruit wine.
Country Wines typically needs a “body builder” of raisins, dates or other ingredient to have any “weight in the mouth”. A winemaker needs to be cognizant that the amount of these ingredients is supplemental to the main fruit, vegetable, herb or flower. Raisins will add a flavor that is difficult to mask in the lighter flavored wines such as the flower wines of Honeysuckle, Rose or Dandelion.
Modern Country Wine Makers now use frozen concentrates of grapes or apple. I am partial to using red grape concentrate with darker berries. White grape concentrate works well with citrus wines. Apple concentrate is perfect for the lightest flavored wines. Cucumber, Asparagus and Clover are examples of our favorite delicate wines using apple concentrate.
The purity of a straight fruit wine, concentrating on one individual fruit, opens the door of exploration. There’s nothing like the crispness of an Apple Wine or the complexity in a Black Cherry Wine.
Then creativity soars.
The addition of flowers, herbs and spices further opens the cornucopia of possibilities. Experimentation with mixtures of fruits and or herbs and fruits, results in an Orange-Tangerine, Strawberry-Basil, Pumpkin Pie or Mulled Cranberry wine.
The ultimate for me are the “Drinks in a bottle” we create, fortified with a port, vodka or gin. Our Chocolate Strawberry Port, Lime Margarita and Cucumber Martini wines have been the talk of the town.
Some of the oldest recipes are for root vegetable wines.
Root vegetable wines are often fermented with the addition of corn, and after aging have an almost-whiskey “burn” to them. Our favorite is one that we named 24-Karet Gold. A beautiful gold color created from 24 pounds of carrots used per 6-gallon carboy. Another of our root vegetable favorites we named Red Dog Whiskey, in tribute to our dog Red, and the deep red jewel-toned color of the wine from the mix of beets and carrots in the blend.
Other vegetables can be used to create great culinary wines. Tomato, Garlic and even Jalapeno have been used to create unique wines that a home chef loves adding to a simmering pot for an extra punch.
Takes the phrase “Cooking Wine” to a whole new level.
My own recipe for Asparagus Wine provides a nice pairing with fish, chicken and, in particular, fettuccine! But, alas, not all endeavors were successful. I remember a Banana wine that was equated to rocket fuel, and some fabulous peaches that were drained of all flavor when placed in the bottle. But I trust that, like us, your successes will outweigh the failures. The simple joy of sipping your own creation is unequal.
The makers of Country Wines tend to be amateurs
Country Winemakers tend to be amateurs, because of the strictness of the labeling requirements. It’s difficult to find a Country Wine Maker who can sell you a bottle of their wine. Their recipe must be published beforehand if blending two fruit wines. The label must then be submitted and approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The blending of two fruit wines is often necessary in the last steps, right before bottling, to achieve a proper mouth feel and balance — and hence the issue with having the label ready for the bottling step.
I find amateur wine makers love to share their wine and explore the possibilities of future mixtures in the creativity with other Country Wine makers. I encourage you to explore for yourself and seek out others who are passionate about Country Wines!
Nothing can stop you except for your own imagination!
It’s a Garden of Eden out there!
