Normandy, Part 2: Apple Booze
[Part 1 is here]. Over lunch yesterday it came up that some of the calvados I was tasting in Normandy was 40 years or older, the oldest specific vintage being a 1969 Dupont. That would be very unusual in the wine world, and highlighted one of the fantastic things about spirits vs. wine: shelf stability. Opening a bottle of 1969 … Read More
Normandy, Part 1: How They Do Things
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
Apple Blossom
Apple blossom. It’s become a time of year that gets me excited for things to come, and wanting to slow time down to be able to enjoy the beauty of it all. I suppose this is simply an outcome of being more connected to my food – seasonal treasures like this simply make life more enjoyable. I now understand why … Read More
Fruit Blossoms
Ps. This is my 600th post, wordpress tells me.
Apple Wine 2010 Vintage Update
Turns out an apple wine updates is overdue. I made apple wine from 5 different trees this year. We had actually harvested from 7, but two were held for a time in the not-yet-very-cold-cellar and those apples were a mess in the crush/press stage – just wouldn’t release their juice for some reason. Of the 5 batches, 1 was outstanding, … Read More
Apple Pruning
Normally I tackle this when the first hints of mild weather hit in February, but having had my nose buried in seed catalogs for a while, it was nice to get out in the garden buried in snow [see below] and do a job that needed doing for the coming growing season. My objective with my apple is to clear … Read More
2010 Apple Wine Vintage Shows its Face
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
Killing-Frost Harvest Sprint 2010
The forecast tonight? -4C!?! The ‘big white combine‘, as farmer-friend Andreas puts it, cometh. It was go-time in our yard today. We started with harvesting the tomatoes [nearly all green], then the fall squashes, any remaining summer squashes, the cucumbers, celery, celeriac, the significant beet crop, onions, shallots, pole beans, bush beans of many types – and a couple hundred … Read More
Making Apple Wine
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