Late May at Goldseals..

[Rich]

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, I've been at Pete's for a few hours now. We've sampled (drunk) a bottle of commercial Sangi/Grenache which was very nice. Now opened a bottle of Pacific Quartet I gave Pete a while ago. (being a bit geeky, Pete has measured the gravity at 1.007)

Anyway, make the most of the sun, this could be summer!

[Rich]

So far...

Pete's Lychee, and mine. a bit different, mine had a litre of orange in the 5 gallons. Both are good.

[goldseal]

Geeky?

Rubbish!!

He TOLD me to measure the SG

[Rich]

pah.

Pete's Strawberry wine has a bigger thumbs up than mine

[goldseal]

quite right.
I think Rich is the Lychee guru, and obviously knows NOTHING about strawberry

[Rich]

Kenridge White Meritage now.

Very good. Tastes of grapefruit! good though.

[Rich]

Before I start, I'd like to make it clear there is a few of us here tonight.. not just Pete and I..

A long while ago JtFB dropped a load of half demijons of with me and gave me a bottle of mead (ye olde inglish meade, numbah wun). I found the bottle of mead a whilst sorting the wine last weekend, so I brought it with me.

(bear with me, as I've not had many meads)

A slightly clinical (medicinal) smell, but the taste is good. Consensus is that nobody could drink a lot of it! Definatley honey flavoured, very different to any wine we've (ever) had. The taste is excellent however.

[goldseal]

Agreed. No off tastes, nice and clean, but has a bit of a 'Dettol' taste which I am sure will go over time.

[Rich]

Now, we've opened Omniata's two bottles that Pete has. It's had a mixed response from the tasting panel. The Ginger Ghenna surprised a few people with it's livid green colour, but the ginger flavour really came through, with a lime taste too.

The Orange Obliterator seemed a bit sweet for most of us, with a sg of 1.080 ish cold, a good taste though, and was well liked.

[Rich]

Pete, busy tasting...

[goldseal]

thatis NOT a flattering photo

[fatbloke]

Before I start, I'd like to make it clear there is a few of us here tonight.. not just Pete and I..

A long while ago JtFB dropped a load of half demijons of with me and gave me a bottle of mead (ye olde inglish meade, numbah wun). I found the bottle of mead a whilst sorting the wine last weekend, so I brought it with me.

(bear with me, as I've not had many meads)

A slightly clinical (medicinal) smell, but the taste is good. Consensus is that nobody could drink a lot of it! Definatley honey flavoured, very different to any wine we've (ever) had. The taste is excellent however.

Agreed. No off tastes, nice and clean, but has a bit of a 'Dettol' taste which I am sure will go over time.

Well bu99er oi dewn ded!

I think that's the first time that any of my meads have "passed the lips" of anyone who has even the faintest idea about country wines and their makings.......

Also, if I remember correctly, it was the very first one I made. A CJJ recipe, using cheapo supermarket honey and with youngs high alcohol/dessert wine yeast.......

It's also one of the few wines I've actually got round to bottling properly etc.

So the very fact that it's drinkable is brilliant news.......

Especially as I'm intending opening negotiations with the local honey wholesaler for 25 kg of Buckwheat (the strongest tasting, darkest honey I can think of)..........

If Aid reads this, I'm hoping to get the time to dig through my stocks tomorrow evening. Only then will I know if I've got anything drinkable......

TVM for the appraisal...

regards

JtFB

[goldseal]

John,

Glad to be of service! We were going to compare it with one of mine, but things got a bit hazy.

This photo might explain ...

[fatbloke]

John,

Glad to be of service! We were going to compare it with one of mine, but things got a bit hazy.

This photo might explain ...

No, no Pete, I'm not fussed about comparisons etc. My lack of consistent methodology is because I come from the "don't care what anyone else thinks as long as I like it" school of wine making.

I was already happy with it, it was just nice to hear others that have a good idea about tasting etc also thought it Ok. I'm sure that if I'd be able to enjoy your hospitality, we could have increased the numbers of empties by a fair number (and that your garden soil is alkali enough to have benefitted from the additional "acid" that I can provide ).

You seem to be much more assiduous in your method/technique, whereas I actually find bottling a chore..........I'm a happy "bulk storer"

Which is why I've got to dig through my stocks to see what's good, as there's this vvv helpful bloke not too far away (Basingstoke - you know who you are Aid...) who deserves something decent for his recent assistance....

regards

JtFB

p.s. plus I'm not into the competitive side of winemaking, comp's and all that...