Chronicles of the Long Shot Farm

This month we began fermenting spiced pumpkin wine.  This wine is used as the base in our pumpkin wine slushy, which is reminiscent of pumpkin cheesecake, creamy and full of fall flavors.   We made our experimental batch with 90lbs of long neck pumpkins and added raisins, cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, and fresh ginger root.

The spice blend is a little different than previous years but it smells glorious and we expect to produce a small batch of wine (25 gallons) next fall.  In the mean time, stop by and check out last years pumpkin wine test batch.  It will be out in the slushy machine next month!

This month in the Winery we are fermenting mint wine.  That’s right, mint wine.  You may have tried it this past spring in the mint wine slushy.  We have also heard that a splash of mint wine in your ice tea on a warm summer evening is spectacular.  To that end, we are making enough mint wine this year to bottle.

We began by harvesting the mint and stripping the leaves from the stems.  We had 105 cups of packed mint all together.  The leaves were divided into 3 fermentation bags.

We then poured boiling water over the fermentation bags into the “big” pot (which is a little over 50 gallons) to make a strong tea.  After the bags were done steeping, we dissolved sugar into the hot mint tea.

We allowed it to cool over night before adding the apple juice and yeast.  The apple juice is there to provide nutrition for the yeast is while adding a pleasant apple wine taste. It is currently bubbling away and will ideally be bottled over winter. Look for a release around St. Patrick’s day!

As the crisp, brisk breeze of the arid Rocky Mountain top suggests a barren peak, the cherry and strawberry fruit flavors and lemony finish in Desert Rose will leave you just as astonished as finding that the dry frontier is a beautiful, bountiful elk country out west. If you know to hunt for it.  This dry wine with its rosy color pairs well with sharp cheese and smoked pork.

Our Elderberry Wine is now available! This wine is made from elderberries grown on the farm. If you have ever picked elderberries, you can imagine how long it took. This is also our first wine in sold in 375mL bottle.  Enjoy the wine description below.

Our Elderberry wine is something special indeed. Collecting the berries is a pains-taking process, requiring muck boots, gloves, and delicate patience. The result is a sweet red port-like wine, with the essence of ripe elderberry, blackberry, and thick tannic mouthfeel.

Posted by Anja Weyant and Samantha Shaffer