We’ve trimmed the tree, we’ve started the Advent calendars, and the month of December is in full swing. I haven’t done too much to get ready for it this year- I attempted last year’s calendar (one of my best brainstorms ever, if I do say so myself), but a lot of the rings are blank. I hung the garland up on the mantle anyway, and guess what? It hasn’t occurred to the kids yet that maybe something is written on the rings. That’s ok with me.
One thing I did do to get ready this year is…make wine. It’s true. Back in October, some girlfriends and I got together, went to Harmony Winery in Fishers and made a wine kit for the holidays.
It’s quite the process, making wine, even when you’re starting with grape juice and not in the vineyard.
After sanitizing our hands and donning aprons, we set to work creating the concoction that would then ferment for about six weeks. I don’t remember exactly what we were doing in all these photos- but it took about an hour, and we had a lot of fun!
After sanitizing, we took turns filling the bottles with Riesling. After bottling, came corking. After corking, came foil seals. After foil seals came customized labels. After all of that, we had a toast for a job well done, for done it was. We bottled about forty bottles total, and all five of us carted out a box of our creation.
Look at the finished product. Now the real dilemma is, do I really gift the fruit of my labor, or do I enjoy it myself?
I have been making lots of my own wine this year. Beer making is much more difficult than wine making, even when working with fresh grapes. Both are completely worth it though. Looks like y’all had fun.