There’s More to Wine Than Just Grapes

It seems as though when we think of wine, we think of grapes. Walk into your local wine shop, and you’ll find the racks are filled with dozens of wines produced from Pinot noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet, and other notable grapes. But what about wines made from other fruits? Since the development of winemaking as a hobby, it has become very easy for the home winemaker to make wines from affordable fresh fruits of the garden variety. And, don’t equate these wines to back-shed hooch. Today, you can make tremendous country wines — plants other than grapes. They include apricot wines that rival the complexity of any $10 Chardonnay or red currant wines that go just as good with prime rib as a bottle of Merlot. Country wines are no more difficult to make than wines from fresh grapes. The basic process is the same, and consideration is given to the same aspects as when preparing grape juice for winemaking. Grape juice is naturally suited for making wine and needs little adjustment prior to fermentation. In many parts of the world