Strawberry Rhubarb Wine

This year for my birthday I got a Master Vintner Fresh Harvest Fruit Winemaking Kit.  For a while now I have wanted to try and make wine out of the fruits that I grow.  Since my rhubarb and strawberries were ripening at this time I decided to make that my first batch.  My kit from Midwest Supplies came with all of the equipment needed and some recipes.

Let’s just say that this is not a quick process – at all.  From start to finish, it took four months to get a finished bottle of wine.  Huge shout-out to professional wine makers out there, for you must have loads of patience.  It certainly was neat to watch the whole process.  A part of me was really hoping that I did it right and hadn’t created some sort of poison by not mixing the right ingredients at the right time.

By mid-October the wine had settled long enough that we were ready to begin bottling.  I had started with an approximately 4 pound combination of rhubarb and strawberries.  In the end it yielded three bottles.  I haven’t created a fun label for the bottles yet, but have a few ideas in mind.  Naturally we couldn’t wait any longer and opened up one of the bottles right away.  It was actually good!  Super strong, but quite good.  You could taste the strawberries more than the rhubarb.

I do have some more strawberries and rhubarb in the freezer that I plan to make another batch of wine with.  Before I make my next batch I am attending an Intro to Winemaking class.  I’m much more of a visual learner so I think it will help to see someone doing it instead of reading how to do it.

My first bottles of homemade wine!

Ta-da! My first glass of homemade wine!