Barry Comeau (Dr. Comeau to strangers) is consulted by
grape growers and wine makers from all over the world.

He has blown away a lot of mistaken beliefs I had.

If he gets a wine that is too dry, he will not hesitate to add
a little sugar and stir it in. People who make fine wines
would not bat an eye at this. It's just people who want to
impress someone who would drink a wine that's a little
sweeter or a little dryer than they like it and say it's perfect
just because it comes with a big price tag.

While it is true that wines in some parts of some countries
are made according to rules that approach religious ceremony,
one of the best selling wines in the world is sold only in
California, and at a modest price. The grape growers do not
approve of the fact the maker buys whatever grapes happen
to be on sale. Tough. The price is so light the wine has been
nicknames "Two Buck Chuck." If I remember correctly it
is sold only at Traders Joe's, in California. The maker could
charge more, if he wanted to. He has made a lot of profit
off of "Two Buck Chuck," and is happy.

Barry has tasted wine from every country in the world, and
can talk sophisticated talk with the most respected tasters.
He laughed when I asked him once what he thought of one
of my favorites, Manachevitz Concord... and then he
responded, "It's one of my favorites, too."

I asked him why he laughed. He replied, "Because so many
people have acted shocked when I told them that."

Fermentation takes out some of the flavor, and hardly
anything is better than the taste of concord grape juice; so
what the Manchevits people do is kill the fermentation and
then add some grape juice for flavor.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy not?

Some of the modestly priced California wines today can hold
their own with the best of them.

Bottom line is this: pretense is for fakes. People who have
good taste (in more ways than one) let their own taste buds
be their guide... and not a price tag or a fancy name.

g





"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:59:35 GMT, "g" wrote:

Unless it's just a nostalgia thing, I would opt for a crock pot.

Would be more sanitary, for sure! I will invest in a pound of fresh
serranos and see what happens. Even a glass beaker would work.

The open crock (covered to keep dust out) does not work with
wine-making, unless one wants a wine vinegar.

My Dad must have been a brute-force vintner!. The crock was just
covered with a cloth to keep out bugs. He added enough sugar to
produce a high alcohol content. Even at that he often added Everclear
when he bottled it. So these were sweet, stout wines. I do not think
you could make a delicate wine out of muscadines, elderberries, and
other southern fruits. If you lived in the Northern US, hard apple
cider would have been the choice.

There are better technologies now for home wine making.

Some woods would put a bad flavor into the mix.

But that might have been part of the process. My Granddad made good
whisky during the Prohibition by buying moonshine and aging it in
charred wooden barrels he had made by the local cooper. These small
barrels - two gallons or so - were sized to be fastened to the back
runners of rocking chairs and the frequent rocking helped age the
whisky.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas