Category Archive

Normandy, Part 1: How They Do Things

Kevin09.2011Apple Wine, Apples, Cider, Cider Making, From the Cellar, Fruit from the Yard, Wine, Wine Making, Wine Vinegar7 Comments

I’m back. Not surprisingly, Normandy was quite the beautiful adventure. I was there to educate my palate, learn some methodology in cider and calvados production, and most importantly to glean from their centuries-old apple food culture. I live in a place of copious amounts of largely wasted urban apples, with a brand-newly emerging scene surrounding how to save them and … Read More

Frontenac Vintage Update

Kevin09.2011From the Cellar, From the Garden, Fruit from the Yard, Grapes, Viticulture, Wine, Wine Making2 Comments

My relationship with wine grapes is a complex one. I did piles of research a few years ago to be well prepped for the potential day in the future that I would have wine grapes in my very own back yard. I since have become a believer in the apple culture we live in here, and am heading to Normandy … Read More

Rack-Fest

Kevin10.2010Apple Wine, From the Cellar, Wine, Wine Making13 Comments

Okay. So I underestimated the work involved in making this volume of wine. Yesterday things needed racking, and wow did it add up to a lot of work – I started around 1, took a break to feed the family and bathe the kids, then back to racking, finishing at about 8pm. I learned, through the tedium of this task, … Read More

2010 Apple Wine Vintage Shows its Face

Kevin10.2010Apple Wine, Apples, From the Cellar, From the Garden, Fruit from the Yard, Wine, Wine Making8 Comments

Oh, happiness. I’ve been keeping a loose eye on the bubbling of my apple wine carboys [a not-so-modest 9 carboys, or ~20 cases. I’m sharing with folks, honest], but hadn’t noticed them dropping clear until today. What does that mean? The yeast is done doing its thing – and no longer is creating turbulence in the solution. What does that … Read More

Making Apple Wine

Kevin09.2010Apple Wine, Apples, From the Cellar, From the Garden, Fruit from the Yard, Wine, Wine Making23 Comments

I’d promised a video peek at how I’ve been making lovely apple wine from urban yard waste. Fortunately, Kristeva and Jessica volunteered to give me a hand, and they quickly jumped in and took over, allowing me to shoot a good portion of the process. If you have any questions about the details, ask in the comments. [And pardon the … Read More

Apple Wine 2010 – Round One

Kevin08.2010Apple Wine, Apples, From the Cellar, From the Garden, Fruit from the Yard, Wine, Wine Making7 Comments

So what could one possibly do with 300-400lbs of apples from your yard – or perhaps your neighbor’s yard?! How much apple sauce or apple pie does one need? I propose the following solution: wine. My current estimate is that it takes about an hour to convert 100 lbs of apples into a carboy of juice – or about 2 … Read More

Apple Harvest 2010: Round One

Kevin08.2010Apple Wine, Apples, From the Cellar, From the Garden, Fruit from the Yard, Wine, Wine Making5 Comments

Good things come to those who ask. This spring, I was picking up some kijiji-found-cinder-blocks, and the folks who had the blocks happened to have inherited a city lot with an INSANE amount of fruit trees on it. So I asked. And today I received. A few hundred pounds of apples, which dented about 3/4 of one of their trees … Read More

A Wild Food & Wild Wine Pairing ‘Moment’

Kevin05.2010Cooking w/ Fire, From the Cellar, From The Wild, Grilling w/ Fire, Moose, Saskatoon Wine, Wine, Wine MakingLeave a Comment

I just had an unexpected notable ‘moment’. I have long contemplated the concept of ‘what grows together goes together‘ when it comes to the game meats we hunt. It’s a reasonably undisputed culinary rule. So thinking of moose and elk, it has begged the question of pairing it with saskatoons, high bush cranberry, labrador tea, and other similar items you’d … Read More

Oak Tasting

Kevin01.2010Foraging, From the Cellar, Saskatoon Wine, Wild Fruits, Wine, Wine MakingLeave a Comment

I’m waiting for some wine samples of batch 2 to come up to room temp from cellar temp to do a tasting/assessment as they are all under different oak treatments at the moment. The two far ones have different toasts of oak going on. The last one has both toasts, but in twice the volume of wine. I’m trying to … Read More

Oh yeah, I built my wine cellar

Kevin01.2010From the Cellar, Wine, Wine MakingLeave a Comment

I’ve posted a few times about my intentions to build a wine cellar. Well barring some additional shelving that will be built this spring, it’s done. And thank the lord for that. Because I’m crazy and decided to try to grow grapes up here, I figured it would be prudent to learn to make both white and red wines this … Read More

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