Grapeo is reborn

Some say the best time to harvest is by the light of a silvery moon, or at least when there is a full one. Biodynamic principles are linked to such fancy/fanciful things as lunar cycles. So we decided to hit the grapes last time we were in Sokolka as with the wedding approaching we had no idea what amount of time we would have free to return and pick.
Marty looks not only super skinny here but like she has the worlds biggest hands!
Behind every skin there is a fleshy lining. hmmmm that quote/analogy doesn't sound right....
They almost look wine worthy if you shoot them in black and white.
Actually in colour they don't look so bad either.
So about 8kg or so later we have all the grapes. It isn't enough to make any form of wine, and as we picked them a little early probably too low in sugar anyway. So we decided another liqueur this year would be the trick. Now to the bottle shop for Vodka and Brandy!
After some pruning earlier in the year, I was able to get quite a lot more grapes than last year. I have also since the picking and after all the leaves fell, I pruned them back really hard, I hope it increases the bounty next year. It was running through the car shed, the tool shed and into the nearby trees.... yes it needed it.

So we got home pulped the grapes and now they are stewing away, I have since added some brown sugar syrup to give it some sweetness as they were picked a touch too early. Either way come Christmas time we should have some nice tipples.

The brewing conclusion

Ok so the last post left you with the stewing stage. Where the grapes would leach out their beautiful flavours. Also I should mention at this stage I went and bought some cranberries at the lovely Hale Mirowskie as well, as I have always wanted to make a liqueur with them.

Over the next 2 months, these soaked and released their lovely flavours. I would assist them by shaking them fiercely on a regular basis, and also sampling them on odd occasions too. The grapes developed wonderfully in flavour. To be honest, they have the taste of an alcoholic Ribena! The cranberries had a fresh and wonderful smell, but their taste was really astringent. After tasting it, you would end up making the face as if you had eaten a lemon. So I was forced to add a touch more brown sugar. Not much, about a half a cup or so. This worked well, so then just before Christmas, it was time to finish them off.

First I needed to drain the liquid away to leave just the fruit.I did both the grape pulp above, and the cranberries below which I hadn't pulped like the way I had with the grapes.
So as we didn't have a press or any fancy muslin bags, we went and bought some sterile gauze from the pharmacy. I then squeezed away, releasing all the trapped liquid, and most importantly, lots and lots of flavour.
The end result is a much drier pulp than went in. And of course a delicious and dark looking liquid.
Finally we poured it all into some bottles we had saved from previous alcoholic "research", and of course, this is environmentally friendly, as we are re-using these bottles which is better than recycling!
The end products are really lovely. The grape is on the left and the cranberry is on the right. From a distance, you would think they are just a red wine and a rose. But they both have beautiful flavours to them, and the natural and brown sugars within have made them slightly syrupy.
Happy days!

There's no business, like snow business

Well,with the weather outside making polar bears shiver and hide in fear of frost bite, it gives me a great chance to try and catch up on some of last year's happenings.

Time to go back to the old days in Autumn when we were working on our larder. Ok, maybe not a larder, but more a cellar. It was more about liqueurs than long term foods. So previously, you saw apple and pear liqueurs and the last real Autumnal post was about the frosts kicking off in Sokolka.

So first things first was to harvest.
After the frost, the grapes have a nice sweetness as well as some more complex tannins.We had to harvest before Hagus the grape eating dog got to them.Ok, it is getting heavy now.But I will need some help to get it into the box from here.So then we have a box full of fresh Sokolka grapes.
So we get home and remove the grapes from the bunches and start the mashing.
We keep mashing.......Till we can mash no more!
This pulp then gets mixed with equal measures of vodka and brandy and a small amount of brown sugar dissolved in warm water. It was then set aside in a large preserving jar to sit and release its flavours. It was shaken at least once a week and kept in the dark. The next post will follow this.

Also on the same grape harvesting day, we attacked the remaining plums. As you can see, the trees have lost all of their leaves due to the intense cold snap. So this meant that the plums were much easier to see!
They just hung around waiting to get picked.
Collecting plums must be fun according to the glee on Marty's face anyway.So upon the return to Warsaw, I washed the plums.
Then removed their stones
and cut them in quarters
Next I put them into a small pot and added a cup of brown sugar, as they were a little tarty.
Then after about 3 hours of simmering them, enough to remove lots of excess water and make it quite thick, I was able to bottle it, or is that jar it?

I must admit that this plum jam, or sliwkowy dzem as it is in Polish, is untried. I am thinking we will crack it open sometime around my birthday. A vintage dzem!