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| Another stunning sunset, as we say goodbye to 2013 |
Chronicles of the Long Shot Farm
Blackberry Vinaigrette
So, what can one do with dozens of bottles of blackberry wine – well, one thing is to make some quick and delicious salad dressing:
Blackberry Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup seedless tart blackberry jam
- 1/4 cup apple vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup blackberry wine – until it tastes good 🙂
- Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients well, and serve with choice of mixed greens & veggie salad.
Oaked Blackberry
So we finally found time to rack and bottle one of our Blackberry Wine experiments from last year’s harvest, a 2012 Blackberry, that was slightly oaked. We were aiming for a full bodied wine, and used 90 pounds of blackberries for a 15 gallon batch – which gave us pretty intense flavors, colors and the full bodied taste we were after. The wine is slightly sweet, with just a light oak flavor, barely enough to tell, but blending nicely with the fruitiness that the blackberries contribute.
Shower Installed!
And some more bathroom progress – just in time for Thanksgiving visitors: we installed the corner shower unit and it is functional! Still need to pretty up the walls surrounding the shower and tub, i.e. more drywall mud, sanding and painting. But we have another shower – hurray!
More Wine Chemistry
Another three day Wine Chemistry & Microbiology lab weekend just ended. We had even more “hands-on” experiment time, using and comparing different methods to analyze various wine components. From conductivity tests to check for cold stabilization, to ripper titrations for measuring levels of SO2, we were busy the entire time.
This morning we worked with microscopes and learned how to identify different strains of yeasts as well as spoilage organisms. So now we have another item for our winery wish list: a decent microscope (which would be right after the ebulliometer)!
By the way, our chromatograms for checking on malolactic fermentation progress turned out a lot better than during our first attempts:
