On Wed, 10 May 2006 22:58:45 -0700, GreenieLeBrun wrote:


> I think I will stick with a nice Yarra Valley Pinot Noir :-)

I'll have you know my tea wine has won First and Second Prizes at the
local Flower and Vegetable Show! I've got a bottle of tea wine and
another of parsnip wine to enter this year in July!

Seriously, that's not the recipe I use, and after the first fermentation
in the demijohn, rack the wine into another demijohn to stand and add
finings (I use isinglass). This will make the wine clear and bright. It
should look like tawny sherry when this is done.

I'd bottle it and leave it for at least three months, most likely six
months. For showing, wine should be in a standard clear wine bottle with
the wine three quarters of an inch below the base of the cork.

Its easy to make with readily available ingredients, though I'm just
starting to make my Christmas wines, Christmas Puddings and Chutneys.
Around October I shall be brewing my beer (we generally have about 40
gallons kegged - Bitter [20 gallons], Stout [10 gallons], Lager [5
gallons], plus about 5 gallons of Small Beer) Some of this goes into the
cooking - you can't make Christmas Cake without Stout - and some goes into
the Wassail Bowl for the Carol Singers if they don't want Hot Mulled Wine.

I've got my Ginger Beer Plant up and running now, and I'm just off to find
some nice fresh Stinging Nettles to make Nettle Beer!

All this is quite usual in my part of the world.....