This winemaking has become a fun and exciting hobby for Dick and me.

We are mixing a Chardonnay Wine Kit into the primary fermentor today. We have Merlot and Beaujolais in the carboys settling out and several varieties of "from scratch" almost ready to sample. I believe that the Grapefruit from last year and Paulette's Mountain Ash are almost ready.

My Dad made wine years ago. I remember sampling many varieties when visiting. I have a particularly fond memory of Mountain Ash. I hope it lives up to the memory. Especially after spending an afternoon picking all those darned berries - standing on a ladder. Then I had to wash and pick them over before processing. I had enough left over for some jelly and that was quite good.

A few years ago, I assembled the wine recipes that Dad had written in a spiral notebook in to a little book (my first publishing attempt) for everybody to enjoy. Dad had comments on most of the wines. They ranged from "Not so Good" to "Very Good". His solution to any problems was always. "Let age." Perhaps that is good advice for most things. Time and aging.

Have a good weekend

Mary