Stick to coffee and alcohol

This is one of my favorites from Engrish.com. It's available as stickers, clothing, mugs, etc. And truer words have never been said.

LINK
Engrish.com

Saw 'Sideways' again

Mercedes and I watched the movie "Sideways" again. We originally saw the moving in 2004 or 2005 before moving out to Oregon. Although we found the movie enjoyable then, I think we could identify more with the wine aspects of the movie this time. Of course, much of it was dramatized, but it was still better the second time around.

The movie made us realize how passionate we are about wine (and beer, for that matter), and that when you're wrapped up in the world of fine wines and great beers, you tend to forget that not everyone on the planet is as passionate about these beverages as you are. It also made me think about how many memories and experiences are tied to our wine and beer adventures.

Oh yeah, the movie also made us think about all that great Oregon Pinot Noir.

A big bottle

On the left is a standard-sized Champagne bottle. Yes, that is a huge bottle of French wine. This was at a Hanukkah party a couple of weeks ago.

Double time wine making.

With wine on the mind or maybe from siphoning the blackberry wine, I was motivated to get two other batches of wine started today. The kitchen was ready or should I say messy so the next phase of wine processing was not a big deal. I have been collecting numerous fruits and freezing them this summer for a day like this. One of the batches is an Asian pear /apple wine and the other a fig wine. Yes that is right Fig. I find making wine from fruit you collect is part of the fun. So each wine has its story on the origins of how I got the fruit.

First wine. Asian pear/apple wine. I had made this type of wine before and figured I would get started with something I was familiar with. I was able to get free Asian pears from volunteering with the Portland Fruit tree project. I came away with around 14lbs of pears and a knot on the top of the head from getting hit by one. No concussion but a nasty knot of the top of the head. I could not pass up enjoying some fresh pears. Needless to say I was 4lbs less of pears. I decided to add 3 frozen apple juice concentrates for the wine. I boiled some water and sugar, put the puree of fruit in the straining bag, and rest of ingredients. Now, the wine is sitting happy for its 24 resting period.

Second wine. Making the brother wine-the fig wine. Figs - where do you get them? I asked myself that too but found out from a neighbor that there was a fig tree just down the street in a vacant lot right along Jenkins St. I went two times to harvest the figs. Bringing along a rake, I was able to pull down the ones that were hanging out of arms length. So if you were driving along Jenkins sometime and saw someone along the road/ditch with a rake going at the fig tree it was probably me. Not a bad harvest with over 8 lbs of figs. On to making of the fig wine. I had no clue of how to make this wine so a quick Google search left me with over a couple hundred recipes to pick from. With a quick glance at the first couple of websites, I was able to pick a recipe that I had all the ingredients for and was off to the races. Luckily, I had frozen the figs already cooked down crushed and mashed so I had one less step to do. Making the fig wine was actually very similar to making other wine steps. Only difference was the ingredient amounts were a little different but the basic principles of wine making was there. Now the fig wine sits next to the pear/apple wine in the kitchen ready for their yeast party tomorrow. In around 4 months the wines should be ready. The beginning of next year there will be 3 yummy wines to try out.

Blackberry Wine

With the excitement of wine harvest in Oregon, it was only fitting Jackie and I dust off our wine making skills and try our hand at making a homemade wine again. What do you get when you combine wild Oregon Blackberries and wild Wisconsin grape juice? A delicious Blackberry wine that is. Yum Yum. It all began on October 10th. We sanitized all the equipment, put the crushed blackberries in the straining bag, poured all the grape juice in, and dropped the rest of ingredients into the pail. It was ready for its 24 hour rest. The first fermentation stage or when the real party started with the yeast was on October 11th. Another two weeks went by with the yeast still enjoying the warm party atmosphere of the hot water closet. On the 3oth, the party ended. Sadly for the yeast but happy for the winemakers. This brings us to today. The wine made it to its final resting place till next year and before the big individual bottling. Another two months of resting for clarity and flavor development. We are looking around the beginning of New Year to try the wine and possibly bottle. The estimation of alcohol is around 11%-12%. As another experiment at that time, we are going to take part of the wine and make a port.

In the Carboy: Double Altbier

My latest batch of beer: A Double Altbier. The beer doesn't use much grain to start with, so it really didn't take much to make it a double.

So far, the beer's been fairly inactive, with only a light layer of foam on the top. However, in the last couple of days, it's become slightly foamier.

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Mercedes and I just split a bottle of New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red. I'm a firm believer in the fact that this beverage is God's gift to alcohol. Holy hell is it good.

Labor Day Tastings

Ah, Labor Day weekend. That last weekend before—well, uh—nothing for me, really. However, it was a good excuse to visit a couple of Oregon wineries with friends.

Mercedes, Melissa, Nathan, and I went to a couple a new places, the first of which being Plum Hill. This winery, located off of Old Hwy 47, offered a variety of wines. Their Müller-Thurgau was tasty. Also of note was the Thistle Pinot Noir, although not made by Plum Hill.

Next stop was Patton Valley Vineyards. Patton Valley only offers Pinot, and they were tasting four bottles. My favorite was their West Block bottle. Patton Valley—gotta remember that for future Pinot tasting!

Next it was on to the usual places, of which Cana's Feast was first. Along with the usual tastings was a 2003 Bordeaux, which was very good. They were also tasting their 2008 Rose, although I'm not sure we hadn't had that before (could've been the '07, t00).

Finally, it was to Dobbes Family Estate for the grand finale. There we got to taste the usual delicousness that is Dobbes (that includes the always-great food offerings). To our surprise, Dobbes is going to be offering a Port for the first time. This Port, which we were lucky enough to have, courtesy of Joe himself, is 100% Syrah, fortified with Dobbes own brandy. It was very good, and I look forward to purchasing some of that in the future!

Although it was a rainy tasting day, it was (as usual) a great day to taste.

LINKS
Plum Hill Vineyards
Patton Valley Vineyards
Cana's Feast Winery
Dobbes Family Estate

Welcome to The Cork and Cap

Welcome to The Cork and Cap! This is a place where friends will share their wine and beer adventures. Here you'll find the latest great wine or beer purchase, a trip to wine country, or a report on the latest brewery. It's all about wine, beer, and friends. Cheers!