http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ The first wine blog on the net, ever, was this home winemaking blog by the grand champion of home winemaking, Jack Keller. en-us Jack Keller's WineBlog, Copyright (©) 2003-2012 by Jack B. Keller, Jr. All print and electronic publication rights reserved. Don't mess with Texas.... Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:17:12 CST http://www.rssfeedssubmit.com/rss-generator/ http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/WineBlog.gif http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ 140 31 http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020512A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020512A I smelled them the moment I walked into the supermarket because the display of strawberries was just inside and to the right. I looked at them and felt the saliva flowing. I raced through Produce and collected just the items on my list and then set a speed record to the fruit section of the frozen foods. I looked and looked, but the only frozen sliced strawberries they had were in tiny, 8-oz cartons which, ounce for ounce, cost about 60% more than the fresh. Back to produce. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020512B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020512B If you have shopped for cocoa powder in any sizeable supermarket, you probably know there are choices. But if your choices are between Baker's, Hershey's and Nestle's, you might consider looking for a larger supermarket. Even then, your choices may be limited but could open up a couple more brands. Why is this important? Because all cocoa powder is not the same, and if you are making a base-chocolate wine, you want the right kind. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020212A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#020212A Late yesterday I received news of the passing this past Monday of someone I thought of as a friend, although we'd never met. We began exchanging emails in 2003 after the publication of his book, "The Grape Grower", a masterful work detailing every aspect of grape growing I wanted to know and some I did not. Most importantly, he opened my eyes to the actual science of grape breeding, the deliberate cross-pollination of two species in an attempt to improve the pollen recipient by injecting one or more traits from the pollen donor. Of course I knew the mechanics from reading some of the 19th century American pioneers. Lon Rombough made it truly understandable to even me. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#013012A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#013012A Last year when we were busy getting things settled so we could leave without anxiety on our trip to Spain, I received quite a few emails I wish I had time then to answer but simply didn't. Oh, I answered some, but I always receive more email than I can answer and during that period I was especially frugal with my time. Answering them now would be pointless as their time has past, but one has nagged me because answering it would not have taken that long but it was a topic I could easily have gotten lost in for half a day. It had to do with making elderberry wine. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#013012B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#013012B The original question I was asked is if I have ever published a recipe for spiced elderberry wine. I have not but have been meaning to. I have made this wine twice, using two different formulas. The second batch was so "right on" that I'm not sure I can improve upon it. Here it is, built upon the dried elderberry wine recipe just discussed. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012512A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012512A I was looking out at a winter lawn the other day and noticed a couple of green spots floating on a sea of mostly brown grass. I went out to investigate and discovered my old friend, chickweed. I pinched off several arms of several plants and washed them in the kitchen. There wasn't nearly enough for wine yet, but what I had would go nicely in a salad. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012512B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012512B At some point in the past I reminisced on this "WineBlog" about hickory pie. A very gracious reader wrote me and said I had done so much for his winemaking that the least he could do in return is send me some hickory nuts from his grandmother's tree. The nuts had already dropped when he wrote, so I had to wait until they dropped in 2011. And sure enough, about the middle of October a 13-pound box arrived from Etna, Pennsylvania loaded with hickory nuts. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012012A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#012012A I was out among my vines, trying to decide if it is much too early to prune or just a little too early. I judge this not by the calendar but by the dormant buds along the canes. Small, tight, totally dormant buds tell me it is too early. But when the buds begin to "loosen up" and swell ever so slightly, I pay attention. I prune when the buds begin to swell to about twice their dormant size. So I was checking out the buds and looked down. That's when I noticed the growing carpet of bluebonnet plants among my vines. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#011312A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#011312A Roger King, up in Michigan, has done me proud. He has taken my award-winning Praline Dessert Wine and overlaid it with coffee wine to come up with a completely new entity. I've not made it yet but the recipe is sound. Since I recently restocked my dwindling supply of Savannah Southern Praline Mix, I'll be making it soon. I might also try the other variation Roger came up with. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#011312B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#011312B A fellow winemaker wrote about a problem he had with a muscadine wine after bottling it. After stabilizing, he said the wine was crystal clear so he sweetened, waited two weeks, bottled, and stored in a cold garage. "When I opened the small bottle after a month or so, the bottom of the jug contained what looked like trash...[But] for a very young wine it tasted great...." My immediate thought was it could be one of two things, and it was. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010912A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010912A It has been many years since I posted this recipe in my Visitor-Submitted Recipes section and over three years since I post posted it here. I am amazed by how many requests I get for it, usually with a preface similar to, "I found a recipe on your web site once for a 30-day wine and now cannot find it." There are seven places I post recipes but when really looking for something most people miss a few or are just too lazy to really look. They go to "Requested Recipes," don't see it, and then write to me instead of going to Google. I'm reposting the recipe here, with a tweak, but first I want to tell you where the several hundred recipes on my site are located. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010912B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010912B I get a lot of email – mostly questions – about my local wild grape. This entry answers several and I hope won't bore the rest of you. The mustang grows all over Texas and into Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and curiously, in Alabama but not Mississippi. It is the most awful tasting grape I've ever eaten, but it can be coaxed, with practice, into a damned good wine. It is extremely acidic, so much so that destemming them by hand without rubber gloves is almost certain to burn the hands. If you don't eat the skins they are edible, but too many will burn the mouth. Ahhhh, but the wine. My 2003 Mustang (right) won a gold medal at the 2005 WineMaker's International Competition. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010312A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010312A Acetaldehyde is an intermediate product of yeast fermentation and is thus present at one time or another in all wines. The sensory threshold for acetaldehyde is 100-125 mg/L. In trace amounts below the threshold it adds complexity to wines and, as Martha Stewart would say, "it's a good thing." However, it is more commonly associated with ethanol oxidation or as a byproduct of acetic acid production by bacteria where it can exceed threshold amounts. In amounts greater than threshold it imparts a sherry type character to the wine which can also be described as green apple, sour and metallic. If barely detectable it is a defect, a flaw. If obvious, it is a fault. But there is more to acetaldehyde you should know about. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010312B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#010312B When my wife and I visited the Kaua'i Coffee Plantation and tasted their flavored ground coffees, we fell in love. I loaded my carry-on with bags of Chocolate Macadamia Nut Coffee and Coconut Caramel [Macadamia] Crunch Coffee. It was not until I was down to two bags of coffee that I decided to make coffee wine from each, and what wine it was! Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#123011A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#123011A I received another request for loganberry wine, the third in two months. Both requests cited having frozen Loganberries and desiring a recipe. Since Loganberries ripen in early summer, they would have to be frozen or canned to be available at this time of the year. But fresh, frozen or canned, they make a truly fantastic wine. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122611A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122611A It is the day after Christmas so I went to my local supermarket to buy 8 boxes of chocolate covered cherries on sale. It's that time of year to make chocolate covered cherry wine and they are always on sale today. Only they weren't on sale. I had a choice. Either go to the Dollar General store and buy Zachary Cordial Cherries in Milk Chocolate, which are not as good as Queen Anne Cordial Cherries in Milk Chocolate or try to talk the manager into a sale. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122411A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122411A On this Christmas eve, I wish to thank all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Border Patrol agents who put their lives at risk to guarantee my security. I am going to enjoy a peaceful, relaxing Christmas with loved ones because they do their duty 24/7 for you and for me. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122011A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122011A This has nothing whatsoever to do with wine, but it's my blog and so.... A friend sent me an email with a video link to a short clip of Brodie Smith doing a frisbee throw off a bridge in Australia and then a speedboat comes by and a guy leaps off it and catches the frisbee before it hits the water. While the whole stunt was impressive, I give the speedboat driver and the catcher more credit for pulling this one off than I do Brodie Smith. Brodie is a two-time national champion and Florida Ultimate player with legendary skills and I found some better videos to show them off. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122011B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#122011B I decided to rotate the contents of my chest freezer, knowing full well I would find things on the bottom layer I didn't know were there. Boy was I ever right. Among the buried surprises was a plastic container containing 6 1/4 pounds of dewberries picked several years ago near Leming, Texas. They were badly freezer burned but still viable for wine, so I started a gallon. It should be ready to drink next Christmas. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#121011A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#121011A Every year around this time I get a flood of emails asking for a recipe for a mulled wine for Christmas. One can buy mulling spices readily about now, so making a mulled wine satisfies the need to create more than anything else. But, here we will look at three recipes for mulled wine – two very old ones that merely mull (spice) a finished wine and one that you start now, from scratch, to enjoy at Christmas next year. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#113011A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#113011A A reader wrote to me about a particularly stubborn cloudy wine problem. Because of the things he mentioned, I offered him a 3-step method to solve his problem. I am certain this will work. It should also serve as a regimen for many others with similar symptoms. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#113011B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#113011B Roger was kind enough to share his recipe with me when I asked. He left out two ingredients (sugar and water) but after I added them in it sure looks sound to me. I will be trying this myself next year. Makes 5 gallons. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112411A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112411A I'm not sure where Mishawaka, Indiana is, but a fellow there made it a lot closer through email. He is making his first ever "wine from scratch" and chose to make pear wine from Bartlett pears. He did not use a nylon straining bag to contain the fruit and ended up with excessive gross lees in the primary and then again in the secondary. He had not read my blog entry on dealing with excessive lees and ended up with about a gallon of gross lees in each instance. Instead of downsizing to a smaller carboy, which I'm sure he didn't have, he topped up each time with a gallon of spring water and the wine's flavor suffered considerably. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112411B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112411B Pears make a wonderful wine, although some people just don't care for it. I suspect they haven't tasted a really good one, but I could be wrong. Pears also make a great mead called Perry. The problem with pear wine (or perry) recipes is that different pear varieties vary a great deal. Generally, however, there are cooking, canning and eating pears. If you know what your particular pear is most often used for, you will be ahead of the game. But to be perfectly honest, each variety requires its own recipe due to inherent variations in hardness, texture, sweetness, acidity, tannin, and susceptibility to browning. Nonetheless, I will stick my neck out and offer a generic recipe. Tweak it as you see fit. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112211A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112211A I recently received an email from a gentleman in Illinois who has a Chambourcin that fermented very quickly and displays a tartness consistent with a measured acidity of 7 g/L. He maintained the wine in his basement at 65-67° F. for 65 days. He wondered if a malolactic fermentation was still possible at this late date. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112211B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#112211B I was just waiting for someone to ask. Mary in Topeka, Kansas, Lynda in Flower Mound, Texas and Ronald in Druid Hills, Georgia all asked for the recipe for the "crumpet pancakes" I mentioned in the last WineBlog entry. If you have a friendship bread or sourdough starter, this recipe will be a Godsend. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111811A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111811A Rob, up in Dillon, Montana has asked some good questions regarding apparent contravening needs to both aerate the must while preventing premature oxidation. Must requires aeration initially to provide the oxygen yeast need to get a strong start. Most of the time, however, we try to minimize oxygen exposure to the must and wine as oxygen is the enemy of wine. But Rob pointed out two times when we apparently throw caution to the wind and aerate like mad. I understand this can be confusing, so I promised Rob I would discuss it here. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111011A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111011A When we were last in Morocco we were served an almond cookie with our warm mint tea at the conclusion of the meal. It was probably the very best almond cookie I have ever eaten. Since returning home, I have made three different batches of almond cookie searching for one that might compare. Each falls short, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111011B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#111011B The late Dorothy Alatorre, in her (Home Wines of North America), gives a recipe for Buffalo Gourd Wine. I happened upon a patch of buffalo melons years ago and was going to collect them (probably 40-50 of them) and follow Dorothy's recipe, but I broke one open to sample the pulp and was so offended by the smell that I left those I had harvested and never looked back. I am smarter now than I was then and know quite a bit about this plant. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#103111A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#103111A At a recent competition I entered three wines. All three placed but my slightly sweet Blanc du Bois, made from my own grapes, won Honorable Mention – runner-up to Best of Show. While I am pleased with this showing, I actually thought my Cranberry-Grape Rosé was a better wine. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#103111B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#103111B If you read this blog often you know that I have become fascinated by tapas, those Spanish appetizers served with drinks throughout Spain but especially in Andalusia. This fascination has led me to seek out other appetizers and I wanted one that would specifically go with this wine – my Cranberry-Grape Rosé. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101511A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101511A I have a dear friend who served in the Navy with Jim Barrett of later Chateau Montelena fame. When I say fame, I mean the winery that produced the 1973 Chardonnay that shocked the wine world as the best white wine at the historic 1976 "Judgment at Paris" blind wine tasting. The story, more or less, was the subject of the 2008 movie "Bottle Shock." With deepest respect for my friend Bob, I told him that the movie did an injustice to one of the greatest winemakers in modern history – the man who made that 1973 Chardonnay and yet was not even mentioned in the movie – Mike Grgich (pronounced Gur-gich). Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101511B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101511B A gentleman from Iowa wrote and asked me many things, so many in fact that if I answered them all with diligence I would write a book. Instead, I picked one question to answer and suggested a few books he might search for at his library. The question I chose was, "Can you preserve a wine without using sulfites?" My answer, edited, follows and was largely pulled from an early draft of an article I recently wrote for "WineMaker" magazine. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101311A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#101311A I happened to mention to some friends I ran into while shopping that I was enjoying this tea I brought back from Morocco after adding mint leaves to it. Tom said, "Oh, that's touareg tea, made with gunpowder green tea, mint and sugar." They asked what kind of mint I grew and I said I didn't, that I bought a bunch at the market. Well, they grow it in a planter where it is well established, so they offered me some. Sure, I could use some. About an hour after I got home the doorbell rang and there they were with a bag of mint. It was a lot of mint, but you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. The moment they left I began cleaning it to make wine with. Of course, some of it was saved for tea. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100911A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100911A While on our vacation in Spain we discovered a dreamily divine treat (the credit goes to my sister, Barbara). Available in almost every supermarket we shopped in along the Costa del Sol, we bought ice cream filled oranges as a novelty. But after we ate our purchase back at the resort, we were snapping at the bits to buy some more – and we did. Creamy and delicious would be understatements but nonetheless accurate. My wife, ever analytical when it comes to "delicious," quickly figured out how to make this treat. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100911B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100911B Shaun Thompson wrote that he had read my blog entry of May 31, 2011 about dandelion mead and the absence of dandelion honey and wanted me to know where to get some. I went to the web site he provided and immediately placed an order for 15 pounds of raw, unprocessed dandelion honey. Yesterday I started a 5-gallon batch of dandelion mead. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100611A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100611A When I think of Spain with my stomach, I think of olives, tapas, paella, and wine, pretty much in that order. Olives are everywhere in Spain and the country produces 1/3 of the world's olives. The trees, with their pale green leaves, are easily spotted from great distances and on some of our drives we passed olive orchards for 10-, 20- and 30-kilometer stretches. In other parts of Spain the stretches could easily have been longer. With olives, I have a fondness for both seeing and eating. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100611B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100611B A gentleman asked if I had ever made wine from the fruit of the Kousa Dogwood ("Cornus kousa"), also known as the Japanese Dogwood (with subspecies Chinese Dogwood also prominent). In truth, I have not, but I have wanted to. I have tasted the fruit from two different trees. One was almost juiceless and had little appealing flavor, but the other was very juicy and tasty. Both trees were growing side-by-side, so there is definitely a difference in fruit from tree to tree. I just have not been able to obtain fruit with which to attempt it. But if I had the fruit, I know exactly how I would go about making Kousa wine. Maybe the emailer, or even you, will try it and let me know how it turns out. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100211A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100211A I had many emails waiting for me when we returned from Southern Spain and Morocco. Obviously, these people did not read my September 9th blog entry saying I was leaving on vacation, but time was not critical for most that were inquiries. One, however, was very time sensitive and the critical window had already closed. Already two weeks old when I read it, it said, "My brother is making elderberry wine and has a runaway fermentation. How can he stop it?" My much-edited reply is as follows, along with a list of 13 yeasts that would have served his brother well. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100211B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#100211B Avid readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of the rose. I make rose petal wine annually and have folded the delicate, aromatic petals into cake and muffin batter, bread dough, omelettes, and cut them into thin strips to adorn salads and ice cream. I have posted instructions for making rose water and intend to address rose leaves one day, but today I will focus on the seed pod of the rose, the rosehip. Rosehips have a taste unique unto themselves -- tangy, yet sweet. I offer three recipes for rosehip tea, jelly and wine that capture this wonderful flavor. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#092711A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#092711A We were late for the wine grapes in Andalusia. The vine to the right is one of several vines on the grounds of the "Plaza de Toros" (the bullring) at Ronda, admittedly not typical of vines in winery vineyards but nonetheless an example of the season. There were probably 20-25 clusters on this vine and most were empty skin shells left by the birds or were raisins. I found the last grape on this vine after a determined search and it was possibly the sweetest grape I have ever eaten. I even chewed the two seeds in an unsuccessful attempt to add some phenolics to the palate. The sweetness coated the entire mouth and tongue and stayed with me for about 20 minutes. Very, very enjoyable. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911A If you happen to be looking for a gift for a wine connoisseur who already has the best wine bottle opener, decanter and personal wine glass, perhaps a little hand blown glass art with a wine theme would be just the right thing. I'm talking about unique pieces that make you or the recipient unique. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911B http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911B I received the following from a fairly new winemaker along with the photo on the left. "My wife and I went raspberry picking in our native Northern Virginia a few weeks back, and I decided to make some wine out of the 6 pounds we picked. We put all 6 pounds in a single gallon, but we froze them first, mashed them to extract their juices, and put them in a nylon sleeve. I'm afraid when I did this, I squeezed the bejesus out of the nylon, and now a ton of the fruit bits have sunken to the bottom of the gallon jug. I'm afraid it's going to be a nightmare to rack this…. Any advice on how to proceed?" Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911C http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090911C While writing the above I realized I had not published a straightforward raspberry wine recipe in any of the recipe sections of my main website. I did post my recipe for Blackcap Wine, a type of black raspberry. The closest I came with red raspberries was my Raspberry-Chipotle Wine, which is not typical of raspberry treatment. I'll correct that oversight right now. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090411A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#090411A I love original requests, something I've never seen before or even anticipated. So, I was delighted when I received a request for a worcesterberry wine recipe. Worcesterberry is cousin to the gooseberry and a distinct species native to North America but grown more in gardens in the United Kingdom than gardens in America. About 6 years ago I bought four cans of worcesterberries in light syrup and concocted a recipe for this fruit. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#082711A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#082711A Dog Ridge is a grapevine seedling selection of "Vitis x champinii" (Planch.). It is a native rootstock discovered by T. V. Munson near its namesake, Dog Ridge, just west of Belton, Texas in Bell County. "V. x champinii" is often cited as "V. champini" but is actually a proto species (natural hybrid), thought to be "V. mustangensis" x "V. rupestris". It may possibly also have some "V. cinerea var. helleri" (formerly known as "V. berlandieri") genes. Dog Ridge is drought and salt tolerant and resistant to nematodes, root rot and Pierce's Disease (PD), although it can be a host to the bacterium that expresses PD without being affected. It is a very vigorous vine and passes its vigor to any graft. It is susceptible to rust and to freeze damage occurring before onset of dormancy. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#080811A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#080811A Yesterday morning I dashed to the market to buy a couple of staples and noticed a beautiful arrangement of berries greeting me when I walked in. There were strawberries in the center flanked on one side by red raspberries and blackberries and on the other by side by golden raspberries and blueberries. Having not yet eaten breakfast, I was putty in the hands of the produce manager. Yes, I bought, but I bought with a plan in mind. Read more.... http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#080311A http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp#080311A I'm still going through this cookbook of Spanish appetizers and having a culinary blast. I look at the title this way; 100 essential recipes means 100 core recipes which you can take and run with. Now, to be fair, I try to make each dish the way it is prescribed and tweak it thereafter if I so desire. Occasionally I do not have the exact ingredients specified and have to substitute, but I do try to see what the literal recipe produces. The results have been delightful to the extreme. Some introduce dishes I never would have conceived of, but others border on the familiar. Read more....