phanaerozoic

Day 8 – “Snowberry Blend” Raspberry Wine and Gouda with Red Pesto

A fun pairing once again. A fruit wine, this raspberry concoction did indeed have the scent of raspberries – a bit sweet and of course, berry fruity flavor. Interestingly it brought out a hint of sweetness in the sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers interspersed through the gouda that I had not noted when I tasted this cheese with Chardonnay on Day 3. So a neat little lesson that you can always experiment with what might at first seem to be strange pairings and find that they do work together.

Today’s pairing reminded me of my most successful attempt at a fruit wine. In the days back when I was making wine in my basement and experimenting a lot, a friend and I made a batch of cherry wine. He had two cherry trees in his yard, one a sweet cherry and the other a tart one, and that year was a banner one for cherries – a huge crop and the sweet ones were indeed high in sugar. So we did a blend of sweet and sour cherries. I think we bottled three or four cases. We each kept a case and used the rest for gifting. The wine was pretty much loved by everyone who tried it. I was sad when we drank the last. My friend moved away the following year, and I never made another bottle of cherry wine, but still can almost taste it all these years later.

~Roy Beckemeyer, 8 December 2021