The Vineyard
A little fact about me that many people aren’t aware of is that the house I live in is on a vineyard. In fact, it is right up against the brewery of the vineyard. Behind the house lies the plantation of grapes, where farmers busy themselves harvesting the fall crops. Inside, we begin the long process of juicing the grapes, and preparing for this years vintage wines.
Tonight, we began the preparation of some fine sparkling wine. The yeast is hungry, and the juice is fresh and sweet. In several weeks time, the first bottles of our sparkling wine will be available through fine wine merchants around the world. However, the prudent wine connoisseur will delay their gratification, as our vintages only improve with age.
Actually, only part of that is true. We are making sparkling wine, but not because we live on a vineyard, or own a brewery, but because we assembled a kit, and purchased wine making supplies! Tonight we put the juice in with the yeast that had been incubating for the past 48 hours. Eventually we will add that to bottles, and add the corn sugar which will initiate the fizzing process, which will result in delicious sparkling wine. In fact, we have the right to call it what it is, Champagne, because the juice is from grapes from the Champagne area of France! Any other ‘Champagne’ that does not contain grapes from that region can not be legitimately called ‘Champagne.’
In several weeks, our vintage will be ready, bottled, and labeled. Then we will invite over friends, and get our drink on in a most sophisticated of manners.
Monday 07 Oct 2002 | Sam | Brewing