Wine Season

Wine Season

1. Get up and check on two new batches of wine
2. Stir vigorously
3. Add a heater to the closet since it’s frickin cold outside
4. Realize the garbage stinks like rotten fruit and pitch it outside onto the porch.

I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning 10 baskets of strawberries. They were brought to me by a friend who went and bought the pre-picked pails from a farm in Portage la Prairie. I froze some, put a basket in the fridge to make a strawberry pie and have turned the rest into wine.

Making home made wine is my only hobby. I started a few years ago after getting hooked on Louis Cote’s wine. Louis is a retired teacher who lives north of Moosehorn and he’s been making the stuff for over 25 years. His is all natural, made from berries that he and his wife Sharon pick themselves.

I remember the first time I was offered a glass of Louis’ wine. I was visiting and told them politely, “No thanks, I don’t drink wine.” The insisted I have a taste, which I did and then forgot about it. On the next visit, I had another taste. And the same thing happened every time I visited over a period of two years. Then one day a friend of Laurie’s came for a visit and brought with him a bottle of home made wine. We served it with dinner and after about two glasses, I began to exclaim how good it was. I examined the label to see that it was made by Louis Cote. At that moment it all came together for me and I’ve been a wine fan of his ever since.

Over the years, Louis has taught many people to make wine. Nervous that I’d do something wrong, he went through it with me step by step. Still nervous, I bought all the supplies I needed and went to Mike and Diane Price’s house. Mike had recently learned from Louis how to make the wine and we made a few batches together. Once I was confident, I started making it on my own. Last summer I put down 10 carboys which resulted in close to 300 bottles of wine. Like me, people who drink it get hooked. I’ve made a lot of friends because of it.

With my berries and sugar all ready, I went down into the basement and began rooting through my supplies. After about 10 minutes of searching, I realized that I’d lost the recipe Louis gave me. Sheepishly, I called his house. After a few minutes of razzing, he gave me the instructions over the phone.

For me, summer has become wine making season. I am already eyeing the chokecherry bush in the yard, am hoping for saskatoons and have checked both the tame and wild plum trees and because of the rain it looks like there will be a bumper crop. I picked enough rhubarb for a batch and a half, and put two more rhubarb plants into the garden. We plan to clear a section of the garden with hopes of putting in more plum and cherry trees next year.

How many batches do I plan to make this year? At least 12. And I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.