Kitchen Studio: Wine from CSA Fruit Leftovers

Jamie and I can’t eat two quarts of strawberries before they go bad. For the last two weeks we’ve gotten that many in our share from the Berry Patch Farm. I freeze some and I give some away, but I love fresh strawberries so I keep about half of them on the kitchen counter to eat as fast as we can. We’ve had so much fun making our favorite strawberry dishes and thinking of new ways to use them. Last night I made a particularly successful strawberry beverage using my blender, vodka, ice and a lime.

But there’s always the race against time. What to do with that last cup or a half of strawberries that are too mushy to eat or freeze? I’ve begun a new experiment. Last night I squished those last few unappetizing-looking yet still beautiful smelling strawberries into a jar. I added some old Jasmine tea, sugar from Malawi bought just for wine making, and pitted dates left over from a baking project. As I opened the container for each ingredient, they all smelled so lovely. I'm sure their unique flavors will blend into a lovely wine.  

 Here are the gathered ingredients along with my CSA notebook

I know from my wine-making research that the tannins in the tea will mellow the tart-sweet strawberries. The dates should contribute a dark heavy flavor found in some Ports. Since the strawberries came straight from the Berry Patch Farms, wild yeast is living on the fruit skin, so I don’t have to worry about that. Nature will step in. In addition to making some alcohol, the yeast will start making copies of themselves for the first week or two while I allow them to be exposed to oxygen.

Of course there’s not enough in this jar to make even half of a bottle of anything. So each week I will add more mushy fruit until there is enough liquid to transfer to a small secondary fermenting container. In this new container the yeast will be deprived of oxygen and will stop making copies of themselves. There, without oxygen, they will convert all of their energy to making alcohol.

Covered to keep out the bugs

I am recording the project in my CSA journal. Each single-bottle batch will be different. I’ll keep a record of how each bottle tastes as well.

It may turn out to be a nightmare like the rock lobster in Cowboy Beebop. If I survive, I’ll let you know how it goes!