Wine Making: Loquat (Japanese Plum) Zinfandel Recipe

One of my favorite fruits to eat straight off the tree’s as a kid was Loquats (aka Japanese Plums). I used it as inspiration in this wine blend.

This wine has an amazingly fragrant aroma a beautiful color. It already taste sooo good, but needs a little more aging  because it’s really strong (16% Alc Vol).

Loquat Zinfandel Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4lbs Loquats (aka Japanese Plums)
• 1/2 Can (23 fl oz) Zinfandel Blush Concentrate
• 50 fl oz Apple Juice
• 54 fl oz Water
• 24 oz Sugar (3 cups)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pectic Enzyme
• 1 Teaspoon Acid Blend
• 1/4 Teaspoon Grape Tannin
• 1/2 Teaspoon Super Nutrient
• 1 Camden Tablet
• 1 Packet of Yeast

Directions:

• Pit and Mash Loquats
• Create a Simple Syrup with the water and sugar
• Add all ingredients (except Yeast) to Primary Fermenter and cover
• Let sit for 24 hrs
• Sprinkle Yeast on Ingredients and cover
• Let sit for 7 days
• Transfer to Secondary Fermenter
• Rack as needed until clear
• Age at least 4 months
• Back sweeten as desired

Recipe: Wine Latte (Chocolate, Cinnamon, and Lime)

Here’s another great combo…Wine & Latte 🍷☕🍷☕🍷☕🍷☕

Thank a bunch to Bright & Balanced for sharing the following recipe on their blog:

Chocolate Wine Latte for Chocolate Lovers

Ingredients 

• 3 squares Baker’s Chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup Chocolate Shop wine
• 3 cups coffee, brewed

Instructions

1. In a double boiler, allow chocolate to begin melting and add milk and wine. While this is happening brew your coffee.
2. In a mug mix one part coffee and one part of your chocolate wine mixture. Stir.
3. Add whipped cream (optional) and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Since I love Wine, this post made me want to find any other recipes featuring the amazing combo. So here you go 🍷☕🍷☕🍷☕🍷☕

Cinnamon Chocolate Wine Latte – No Coffee Required

 (Courtesy of The Pink Flour) 

Ingredients 

• 1 part whole milk
• 1 part chocolate wine (i.e. ChocolatRouge Wine)
• Pinch of ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Whipped cream (optional) In a small sauce pan, heat milk on medium high heat until steaming hot.
2. Pour into coffee mug or desired glass.
3. Add chocolate wine and pinch cinnamon to the milk and stir.
4. Top with whipped cream and sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired.

Lime Wine Iced Latte

 (Courtesy of Good Girl Dinette and via Sprudge)

Ingredients

• Red Malbec Wine
• Sugar
• Lime Zest & Juice (Makrut)
• Cold Brewed Coffee
• Whole Clover Milk
• Ice

Instructions

1. Starts by making a red Malbec wine simple syrup reduction that cooks down for about 30 to 40 minutes
2. Then add some Makrut lime zest and juice.
3. To build the drink, measures about 60 grams of the syrup, then adds equal parts cold brew and ice with two to three ounces of whole Clover milk.
4. The latte is shaken in a cocktail shaker and poured into a cup.

Recipe: Brie Toast with Chardonnay-Soaked Golden Raisins

Who wants some??? This looks so delicious and I can’t wait to try this recipe from Arisanal Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups water
• 1 cup Chardonnay
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split in half vertically
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 12 ounces Fromager d’Affinois cheese sliced into 24 pieces (or use any double-crème brie)
• 24 slices baguette cut ¼ inch thick
• 4 tablespoons ( ½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

• In a medium-size saucepan, combine the water, wine, and sugar.
• Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved.
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat. Scrape the insides of the vanilla bean into the liquid and add the remaining bean.
• Add the raisins. Let steep uncovered for at least 1 hour at room temperature.
• Refrigerate overnight.
• Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid. Discard the vanilla bean. Put the liquid back in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 1/3 cup, or until the syrup turns a deep golden color, 10 to 15 minutes. Watch carefully so the syrup doesn’t burn. If it starts to foam, remove from heat immediately. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools, and have a texture similar to light maple syrup. Cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
• Brush butter onto both sides of the bread slices. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely.
• To assemble: Put a slice of cheese on each toast. Sprinkle with a few raisins and drizzle syrup over the top.

Makes 24

Note: If you have any raisins and syrup left over, combine them and refrigerate in an airtight container. They will keep for 2 weeks.

Wine Making: Strawberry Breeze Riesling

I decided to make a light and fruity summer wine, so I choose to us the Welch’s Strawberry Breeze frozen concentrate along with the remaining Riesling Concentrate I had left over from the Peach Riesling I started in February.

Ingredients:

• 1 Can (23 fl oz) – Alexander Reisling Grape Concentrate
• 2 Can (11.5 oz) – Welch’s Strawberry Breeze (Save 1 Can for sweetening before bottling)
• 93 fl oz – Water
• 16 oz – Sugar
• 1/2 tsp – Super Ferment
• 1 tsp – Acid Blend
• 1/4 tsp Tannin
• 1/2 pkg – Yeast ( I used Red Star Pasteur Champagne)

Directions:

• Add the Reisling Grape & Strawberry Breeze Concentrate to your primary fermentor and stir.
• Create a simple syrup mixture with the water and sugar (Heat the water on the stove and stir in sugar until completely dissolved). Set the simple syrup mixture aside for cooling until room temperature.
• Mix all remaining ingredients except Yeast
• Sprinkle yeast and leave in primary fermentor for 3 to 5 days
• Transfer to secondary fermentor for the remaining fermenting and bulk aging
• Rack as needed (i.e., transfer wine off yeast and other sediment to another fermentor)

This batch should be ready just in time for summer…looking forward to it!

Wine Making Class: Week 2 – Racking, Mead Wine & Wine Tastings

Link to Wine Making Class – Week 1

Week 2 of Wine Making class gave us the opportunity to rack wine and create a mead wine.

Racking

In week 1 we created a red and white wine, which needed to be racked in week 2 (transferred) from the primary fermentor to the secondary (The picture above is a secondary fermentor aka carboy). The primary is used to give the must (wine ingredients) enough room to vigorously ferment within the first week. After the first week, fermentation slows down and can be transferred to the secondary, which is a tighter space and limits the amount of oxygen with a airlock (located in the picture above and is the closure at the top of the fermentors). Racking is also used in the process of clearing wine. When you transfer the wine from one fermentor to another, you are able to leave the sediment at the bottom and get a clear and vibrant color from your wine.

Mead Wine

Another first for me in the class, was the process of creating a mead wine. Mead wine is wine that has been fermented from honey (the honey is converted into alcohol). Keep in mind, this is different from wine that has been sweetened with honey. We made a Blackberry Mead.

Blackberry Mead 1 Gallon Recipe (from DeFalco’s)

Ingredients:

• 1-2lbs Blackberries
• 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. (about 26 – 32 fl. oz.) unprocessed honey (dry to semi-sweet)
• Water to one gallon (Specific Gravity – 1.085 – 1.105)
• 1 tsp. Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
• 2 tsp. acid blend (or 3/4 tsp. tartaric acid & 1 1/4 tsp. malic acid)
• 1/4 tsp grape tannin
• 1 campden tablet* (crushed – or substitute 1/8 tsp. sodium/potassium metabisulfite)
• 1-2 pkgs. wine (e.g. Premier Cuvee, Champagne, Cote des Blancs, Lalvin D-47) or mead yeast

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the yeast and the campden tablet. Stir the must until the honey and additives are completely dissolved. Cover the pail to keep out dust and air with the large plastic sheet.
2.  Crush and dissolve the campden tablet in 1 oz. of warm water. Add this to the must and stir well. Cover the pail again and tie down the plastic sheet. Let the must stand for one day, stirring several times.
   *ALTERNATIVE: Heat honey with an equal volume of water to 180°F and let stand for 15 minutes to pasteurize. (DO NOT BOIL!) Cool and add remainder of water before proceeding to next step.
3. Rehydrate the dried yeast by sprinkling it into 1/2 cup lukewarm (95 – 100° F) water in a sanitized jar and cover for 20 minutes. (If using “Mead” yeast, prepare a starter 48 hours prior to using.) Add the yeast “slurry “/starter to mixture. Re-cover the primary fermenter and allow fermentation to proceed for 5-7 days or until foaming subsides.
4. Syphon the mead into a sterile glass jug. Avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration as much as possible. Be sure the mead completely fills the jug – into the neck. Attach a fermentation lock and allow the fermentation to go to completion (.995 – 1.020 S.G.).
5. One week after fermentation has ceased, syphon the mead into another sterile glass jug. Again, avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration. Crush, dissolve and add 1/2 campden tablet per gallon to the mead. Allow the mead to stand for one month in a cool dark place and repeat “racking” process. If at the end of three months, the mead is clear – bottle it. If it is not clear, repeat this step every month until it is clear and then bottle it. The mead may be sweetened to taste with additional honey, if desired, after stabilization (1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate & 1/2 campden tablet per gallon).

Note: All equipment should be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulphite. Fermentation temperatures should be no lower than 60 degrees F. or higher than 80 degrees F.

Ratio for different meads – (parts by volume honey: parts by volume water)
DRY: 1:4 (2 1/2 lbs. honey per gallon – the dry recipe above)
SEMI-DRY: 1:3 (3 lbs. honey per gallon – our most popular – the semi-sweet recipe above)
SWEET: 1:2.5 (4 lbs. honey per gallon)

Mead wine will need to be racked more than traditional wines in order to obtain a natural clarity. It will also need to be aged longer as well. Similar to other wines, meads can be dry, semi-dry, or sweet. Our instructor Scott, recommended us setting aside 1/2 to 1 gallon of the un-fermented juice and using it to the final batch at before bottling.

Wine Tastings

Below are the wines we tasted in Week 2:

• Martin Codax Albarino 2011 – (My Favorite) From Rias Baixas, Spain the wine is fruity, crisp, medium-bodied white wine with a dry finish
• Seven Sinners Petite Sirah 2012 – From Lodi District, France the wine is rich, with flavors of jam, heavy tannins, with a dry finish
• Raspberry Melomel 2011 – A mead wine made buy the store’s staff. It was fruity, light-bodied, acidic, with a semi-dry finish
• PluBerry – A Japanese Plum & Blackberry wine made by one of the students in the class. It was boldly fruity, medium-bodied, acidic, with a sweet finish
• Erath Pinot Noir 2013 – From Oregon, USA the wine is a light and fruity wine with lighter tannins and a dry finish
• Carmenere 2012, A chilian wine, with bold berry flavors, heavy tannins and a dry finish. I forgot to write down the brand

All in all, week 2 was another great class filled with learning and wine.

Until next time…Our should I say next, next time since I’ll be missing Week 3’s class 😦

Check out Week 3!!!

Cooking with Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon + Blackberry Dijon Mustard

I received a jar of the Grey Poupon Rouge this past Friday and was really excited to cook with it over the weekend. It’s not everyday you see such a unique combination of flavors blended together like this.

I was hopeful the Grey Poupon Rough would make an amazing dish and decided to grill up some wings and toss them in the sauce.

Below are the results:

You can’t tell in the picture, but the wings had a purple glaze, similar to the color in the jar picture above.

I couldn’t taste any of the Cabernet Sauvignon, however the sauce had a robust mustard flavor with a hint of sweetness.

Ultimately, I was not a fan of the Grey Poupon Rouge on my chicken wings, however it may be better suited with other dishes. The Kraft Foodservice website has a list of recipes that may pair better.

I’m not sure if Kraft has plans to release this flavor to retail consumers, but you may find it on some restaurant’s menus.

Until next time!

Wine Making: Cranberry Pomegranate Zinfandel

Cranberry Pomegranate Zinfandel

Ingredients:

• Can (23 fl oz) – Alexander Zinfandel Blush Grape Concentrate
• 1 Bottle (60 fl oz) – Ocean Spray Cranberry Pomegranate 100% Juice
• 45 fl oz – Water
• 16 oz – Sugar
• 1/2 tsp – Super Ferment
• 1 tsp – Acid Blend
• 1/4 tsp Tannin
• 1 Campden Tablet (Crushed)
• 1/2 pkg – Yeast ( I used Red Star Pasteur Champagne)

Directions:

• Add the Zinfandel Blush Grape Concentrate to your primary fermentor and stir.
• Create a simple syrup mixture with the water and sugar (Heat the water on the stove and stir in sugar until completely dissolved). Set the simple syrup mixture aside for cooling until room temperature.
• Add all remaining ingredients except Yeast to the primary fermentor. Cover and let ingredients sit for 24hrs
• Sprinkle yeast and leave in primary fermentor for 3 to 5 days
• Transfer to secondary fermentor for the remaining fermenting and bulk aging
• Rack as needed (i.e., transfer wine off yeast and other sediment to another fermentor)

So, this is is a interesting combo for wine, however they both have great health benefits!

Below are a list of benefits:

I can’t wait for this one to be ready…I’m going to give it 2-3 months!

Recipe: Peach Wine Cake

Here’s another great wine dessert recipe courtesy of Ozan Wine!

Peach Wine Cake!!!!

Ingredients
1 box white cake mix
1 small box peach gelatin
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 cup Ozan Peach Wine
1 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions
Combine mix and gelatin. Add eggs, oil and wine. Mix well and set aside. Prepare tube pan and sprinkle half of pecans in bottom. Add batter and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 42 minutes.

PEACH GLAZE

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Ozan Peach Wine

Instructions

Combine sugar, butter and wine and bring to a boil. Cool cake for 10 minutes. Pour half of glaze on cake. Wait 30 minutes. Pour remaining glaze on cake and sprinkle with pecans.

Happy Baking!

Wine Making: Peach Reisling

With this batch of wine I’m making Peach Reisling 😍

Peach Reisling Recipe:

• 1 Can (23 fl oz) – Alexander Reisling Grape Concentrate
• 2 Can (11.5 oz) – Welch’s White Grape Peach Concentrate (Save 1 Can for sweetening before bottling)
• 93 fl oz – Water
• 16 oz – Sugar
• 1/2 tsp – Super Ferment
• 1 tsp – Acid Blend
• 1/4 tsp Tannin
• 1 Campden Tablet (Crushed)
• 1/2 pkg – Yeast ( I used Red Star Pasteur Champagne)

Directions:

• Add the Reisling Grape & White Grape Peach Grape Concentrate to your primary fermentor and stir.
• Create a simple syrup mixture with the water and sugar (Heat the water on the stove and stir in sugar until completely dissolved). Set the simple syrup mixture aside for cooling until room temperature.
• Add all remaining ingredients except Yeast to the primary fermentor. Cover and let ingredients sit for 24hrs
• Sprinkle yeast and leave in primary fermentor for 3 to 5 days
• Transfer to secondary fermentor for the remaining fermenting and bulk aging
• Rack as needed (i.e., transfer wine off yeast and other sediment to another fermentor)

So now we wait….Here’s my three batches in the works:

From Left to Right:

Blueberry Port, Ari’s Country Wine & Peach Reisling

Recipe: Red or White Wine Ice Cream

Here is a detailed recipe for Red Wine Ice Cream from Jo and Sue  and an easy recipe for White Wine Ice Cream from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen. They seem to be interchangeable, so choose which one suite you best.

 

Red Wine Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 vanilla bean
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup 1/2 & 1/2 cream

Directions

1. Pour whole bottle of wine into a large pot. Over medium low heat allow to simmer until reduced to 1 cup of liquid. (This can take up to an hour, depending on heat, – keep checking it!) Set aside.
2. Whisk together brown sugar and whipping cream in a medium pot. Cut vanilla bean in half and scrape seeds. Add seeds and bean pod to cream.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to steam but not boil.
4. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer, beat egg yolks until light colored.
5. Remove bean pod from pan and very slowly pour in the cream mixture to the egg yolks. (If you go too fast you will curdle the eggs!)
6. Return mixture to pot and place back over medium heat. Cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.
7. Place a strainer over a large bowl. Pour in the 1 cup of 1/2 & 1/2 cream. Pour in the thickened egg/cream mixture through the strainer to get out any yucky bits.
8. Lastly, stir in reduced wine.
9. Chill in fridge for at least several hours.
10. After it is thoroughly chilled, give the mixture a stir and pour into the canister of your ice cream maker (Process according to manufacturer’s instructions).

Note: It does freeze a little hard so simply take it out about 5-10 minutes before you serve it.

White Wine Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Riesling
• 3 heaping tablespoons super fine sugar
• 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Add the wine and sugar into a large bowl and whisk together until the sugar dissolves.
2. Gradually whisk in the heavy whipping cream until it begins to thicken.
3. Pour mixture into a plastic container with a lid and freeze until firm, about 3-4 hours.
4. Scoop into a bowl and top with seasonal fruits and a splash of Riesling.