My wit and wisdom about winemaking are featured in a new book (along with my Grapefruit wine recipe): 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers . Check it out! … Continue reading →
I love food and beverage-making challenges. Making things that sound “hard” gives me no end of pleasure. This year, I’ve stepped it up a notch and taken on a number of the big ones, but I’ve also learned quite a bit about cooking some very simple things. Here’s my partial list of things I’ve learned …
I did an interview as my alter-ego, Oven Mitt Johnson, last night for Outsight Radio (https://www.new-sounds.com). Here’s the direct link to the show (the interview starts about 30 minutes in): https://www.new-sounds.net/mp3/ORH-20090126.mp3 . Enjoy!
Sam and I drew samples, tasted, and tested the pH on all 9 of the 2008 wines tonight. I’m happy to report that I’m very happy. The Chenin Blanc and Rose’ are stable, clear, tasty, and have good acidity. The … Continue reading →
We’re completing our focus group testing and getting the label ready to be printed. We expect that Galactic Grapefruit Wine will be available for purchase in time for Thanksgiving. This weekend, Jeff took a bottle to Philadelphia, and I shared a bottle with Molly, John, and Maya here in Sacramento. Grapefruit Wine has now been [...]
Yesterday, Margaret and I poured Bad Astronauts wine at the Sonoma Home Winemakers Celebration. We met a lot of people, including a couple who were going to astronaut Rusty Schweickart‘s house for dinner and wanted a bottle of Bad Astronauts Galactic Grapefruit wine to bring him! We gave them one, of course! I hope they [...]
Here’s the merlot status so far: I drove to northern Sonoma county (Kenwood) Monday morning to get the grapes. I got to downtown Sonoma at about 6:00, had some coffee there, and then drove up highway 12 for another 20 minutes or so to the vineyard. Morrison Vineyard is the most beautiful place in the [...]
Since my last post, there has been a ton of exciting wine news:
* We bottled the 2007 Bad Astronauts Phoenix Landing Cabernet Sauvignon / Cab Franc
* This wine won a Double Gold and Best Red of Show at the El Dorado County Fair!!!
* It also won a silver at the Sacramento Home Winemakers Jubilee
* and another silver in Placer County
If you were involved with the making of this wine at all (or if you were reading my posts back in the fall), you know that a lot of work went into this. I'm extremely proud of the success the Bad Astronauts have had with this wine, and I'm excited about starting it all over in the fall (hopefully with fewer problems to conquer!).