We didn’t see fireworks, but we got a lot of “home winemaking” accomplished, the “wee man” and I. Here in Canada, it is the “May 2-4″ long weekend where the Monday before or on the 24th of May is a holiday to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. It’s not really Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, but rather Queen Victoria’s day of birth. Traditionally, the holiday is celebrated with fireworks in the evening, and in the past, the Town has had a fireworks display about ten minute drive. Tonight, we drove up there but there was nothing. Many were confused about this year’s May 2-4 long weekend because it came so early. Some were thinking that it was next week that the holiday weekend landed on.

Perhaps the Town was confused too. Or maybe the recession cut into celebrating Her Majesty’s birthday this year. Regardless, the “wee man” David and I did not see fireworks this evening.

When I first learned how to make wine, the wee man wasn’t around. But ever since he could walk, he’s been trying to help me. If you check out this post over here, you’ll see photos of him, taken almost 4 years ago. He and I had a little “adventure” together, driving down from Orangeville to Beamsville, Ontario, when I picked up some Baco Noir must from a vineyard. Back then, he called grapes, “wine juice berries.” He was cute and a great little fellow back then. Today, he’s still cute and a great little fellow.

I decided to get the Dry Mead I had started in 2006 bottled today. That meant cleaning and sanitizing bottles, of course. I think David might grow up to be a home winemaking expert – he sure seems to enjoy sharing in all the tasks that need to be done. “Can I help make wine, Dad?” He doesn’t call me “Daddy” anymore. It’s “Dad.” He’s grown up, don’t you know!

I had about 30 bottles soaking to get old labels off, and then I sanitize and clean them using the water pressure thingamajigger that screws onto a faucet. And I have my sulphatizer beside it on the counter. The bottle tree is a few steps away, so David and I have a little routine. I clean and sanitize the bottles, hand two to David, and he puts them on the tree so they will drain and dry.

When the bottles are (mostly) dry, he helps bring them out to the kitchen where we line them up on the floor. While this, and the bottle sanitizing is going on, David is singing about “teamwork.”

It’s his job to count the bottles to make sure we have enough. As I fill the bottles, he colours the labels that get printed off. When the bottles are filled, he washes his hands and inserts the cork into the floor corker – always a step ahead of me – and I cork the bottles. We get things done in no time! Then it’s time to glue on the labels, and we’ve got a “teamwork” routine for that too.

Personally, I find the home winemaking task of cleaning bottles to be the least enjoyable part – but when I’ve got a helpful wee man helping me out, it does become a lot of fun!

Naturally, at 6 1/2 years old, there are other things he’d like to do including kicking soccer balls and learning how to dribble basketballs. So, we did take a little break and spent some time in the sunshine doing that together. And then he left me to my own devices to bottle the Kiwi Melomel that I started January 2, 2006. I had made three gallons and decided to bottle them into 375 ml bottles. It’s delightful! Although I think next time, I might add a bit more acid blend to it.

The only short size corks I had on hand were some synthetic corks distributed by Vineco. I don’t like them. I had three of them bend on me when trying to cork bottles, a few went far to deep into the bottle just because they slide that way, and well.. I don’t like them. But it’s what I had this evening. Ah well!

I have some work to do tomorrow, carrying cartons of mead to the basement. I know David will want to help with that too! I bet in about 20 years, I’ll be getting a phone call, “Dad! Come try this Kiwi Melomel I’ve been aging for three years!”

Related Posts

• More, Please: Home Winemaking and Melomel
• Mostly Non-Home Winemaking Musings For The Day
• Mead Label & Bottle

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