Posts Tagged ‘kiwi melomel’

I am awaiting a very important phone call at this late hour (3:30AM) from the most special woman – to let me know she arrived at her house safely. Due to some circumstances beyond our control at this time, she lives a four hour plane ride and then about a two hour drive away. Tonight, I dropped her off at the airport in Toronto after we spent a wonderful five days together. Some of that time was enjoying some of the homemade wine and mead I’ve made. But one of the highlights of our weekend was being able to take in Leonard Cohen together in London, Ontario on Sunday night.

Mr. Cohen is such a fine old gentleman that we decided to dress for the occasion, and it was very nice to get compliments from the staff at the John Labatt Centre as we walked through the turnstyles and had ushers and usherettes direct us to our floor level seats. And I was able to “whisper sing” in my beautiful lady’s ear, along with Leonard Cohen, “If you want a doctor….. I’m your man.” Of course, in his older age, and his Marlboro cigarette “enhanced” voice, Leonard does it much better than I do, but the sentiment is the same.. if not deeper.. when I sing it.

Anyhow, as I wait for that phone call to know Colleen has arrived home safely, I thought I might as well add a post here. If you enjoy it, very good. If not, perhaps some of the other content here will be of more interest to you. I don’t mind.

I haven’t started another batch of kiwi melomel yet, but am thinking I might do that on the weekend. My beekeeper friend/client might be dropping off quite a load of honey to me on Friday. Thus far, the kiwi melomel has been met with compliments and this time, I’m going to make sure I make ten gallons of it. It will make for a very good gift to friends and clients.

I was also going through some photos and came across one of my six year old son helping me cork some bottles. He’s a great wee man, and perhaps this photo says it all about his constant happiness and love for doing things.

Ok… here’s the photo… and hopefully, the phone will be ringing in minutes!

Ring…! There’s the phone!

There are a few things about making my own wine I don’t like: Cleaning and sanitizing bottles, trying to figure out where I’m going to store carboys not in use along with wines I’ve just bottled, and being disappointed about something.

Today, I’m disappointed. Very very disappointed. Hey, when you’re a home winemaker, it can happen. You put a lot of time and effort into trying something – wait two or three years, and with much anticipation – you sniff the aromas and put the liquid to your mouth. Will it be as good as you hoped? Was the patience of waiting worth it?

How about this one? “I didn’t make enough!”

Back in 2006, I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of Kiwi fruit. About nine pounds. Then I followed this recipe. Except, I stopped racking after a year and just let it age in the carboy for another 2 years and 4 months. I bottled it the other day into 375 ml bottles. Last evening, I put a few of those bottles into the fridge to chill. Then I opened one. I smelled. I tasted. I drank. Then another bottle was opened. I tasted. I drank. Then another…

You get the picture.

Heck, even the hangover tastes good. Now, where’s my Milk Thistle?

Oh, I am so disappointed that I only made three gallons. And a few of these bottles are marked already as gifts which leaves me with even less to enjoy over the summer. Kiwi Melomel is something you can enjoy with anything you’d eat that would call for a white wine – but I can also see myself sipping this on a hot day while sitting out in the sun.

I’m off to buy about 40 pounds of kiwi fruit (thankfully, there are three grocery stores in my town. Not sure what they would think of me at Zehr’s buying up ever last Kiwi they have in stock). I’ve got enough honey to do make two five gallon batches. If you enjoy home winemaking, and are thinking about trying some meads – seriously give Kiwi melomel lots of consideration. Tell your friends when you offer it to them that I told you to try it. Your friends will thank me.

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!”