Ginger Beer

I've got a illness currently so havn't been drinking all that much wine. One thing I have been tearing into however has been, hot lemon, honey and ginger drinks. Which got me wondering, could we make our own ginger beer. A quick check of google and yes we could.

We put down a first batch using what we had around the house, ie bread yeast and a few lemons plus the fresh ginger. 48 hours later we gave it a try and it was great really fizzy and refreshing. So we've gone out to buy brewing yeast and have just put down a second batch with a look to make it alcoholic this time.

The recipie for reference is:
per litre

3/4 shot of ginger juice ( found by grating then squeezing the ginger)
juice of 1 or 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp yeast
warm water

out next step is to start brewing in larger quanttities and get ourselves an enterprise

2007 Cono Sur Pinot Noir

2007 Cono Sur Pinot Noir

This wine is straight out of Chile, a product of huge volumes and so relaible wines from vintage to vintage. The back of the bottle says that it is from the southern tip of Chile between the mountains and the ocean.

It has a great pinky red crimson colour and smells fruity and floral. Unlike our NZ Pinots it is less full bodied and is much less earthy. The younger age will also encurrage the frirty lightly sweet flavours which are present.

It punches above its weight, costing only $15 and could beat many of New Zealands lower price mass produced Pinots. Will buy again to have around the house for everyday drinking. It went well with carpet cleaning yesterday, even managed to not spill any on the freshly cleaned floors

2005 Domaine la Bastide - Plenitude

This was a random buy awhile ago. I was looking for something new and stumbled upon this, from memory it cost about $20. Its a French blend of Pinot Noir, Syrah and Merlot but judging by the taste it's primarily Pinot.

After opening the cork I gave the bottle a bit of a sniff, it didn't really have much smell initially so tentativly I poured a tasting glass, it was a light red in colour with a touch of brown, the smell was definitly an earthy damp pinot.

Upon tasting I was stunned, it was great a nice silky pinot but with the touch of spice coming from the syrah, i guess the merlot helps with the smoothness. Its got a dry taste with some earthy dried savoury flavours. My flatmate said it had a flavour of moldy citrus fruits as you stomp on them, very descriptive but I definitely enjoyed it even if she didn't.

Its nice and smooth by itself to just sit down and enjoy.

2006 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Shiraz

2006 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Shiraz

I've been doing quite a lot of work lately and felt like I needed a night off. So after arriving home late and started eating dinner I decided it needed a wine to go with it. Enter the wolf blass shiraz, I chose this because its a great wine for everyday drinking, well made and modestly priced at about $16 less on special. I've had many other yellow labels before and never been disappointed.

The 2006 vintage is nothing spectacular but still represents great value, it was nice and smooth with good tannins with a dry tobacco and fruit smell. The taste was of pepper and savoury herbs with a touch of red fruit. The flavours were balanced meanind that it doesn't dominate and can be quietly enjoyed. The taste of ripe plums lingers afterwards and draws you in for another mouthfull. It paired very well with our pumpkin cannelloni and would do with most winter dishes provided they're not too fully flavoured themselves.

A good wine to have at home just in case and for warming up with on a cold night like this one.