Rhubarb Wine?

I have been waiting to taste this one for a while. I first heard of Blacksmiths Rhubarb back in October from an intern from MCP that I was working with. I finally bought some for Christmas dinner and we never got around to drinking it, so I had to open it and drink it myself. It was very good, not too sweet but enough so that it was enjoyable.

Blacksmiths Blueberry

Thanksgiving this year we decided to unwind a little bit with a couple bottles of Blacksmiths wine. I brought the Rough Cut Cider and my Grandmother brought a bottle of Blueberry. This blueberry wine was really good. It might have just been all the sweet smells in the air and on the great food on the table but the blueberry was a perfect match. It was like drinking dessert. I am an amature at this wine thing but I look forward to more from Blacksmiths fruit collection.

Honeymaker

A while back I had bought a hard cider at a local wine shop and instead of picking up the Rhubarb wine that I was going to get I found some mead by Maine Mead Works. I figured, how cool, wine and honey rolled into one and from a local company. I was a little let down by this mead but I am sure it is not due to the drink but to my expectations. I was looking for something sweet (but not as sweet as the ice wine). Maybe I shouldn't have started out with the Dry Hopped Mead, I don't know. It was good, but it was dry and tasted much like a regular white would taste. For Christmas I did get a bottle of Semi Sweat Mead from HoneyMaker so I look forward to uncorking the mead for another go.

gritty mcduffs

I have been sampling Gritty's over the last couple months and it has had its ups and downs. I bought a sample pack because everyone raves about the Halloween Ale. To be honest, it didn't do much for me. It was okay but nothing to get excited about. However the Pub Style Ale and the 21 IPA were very good with the Pub Style being excellent. It was just so smooth and flavorful that I was looking forward to trying some more Gritty's. For Christmas my Grandmother bought me a six (I love telling people that my Gram bought me beer for Christmas) of Gritty McDuffs Christmas Ale. She liked the Santa on the bottles and knew I wanted local beers. Gritty let me down on the Christmas Ale. I starts off good, but leads to a bitter hoppy taste that changes and leaves an aftertaste of soap. Not loving that.

my boys

My Boys

My boys make me laugh

Make me smile

Make me crazy

Make me proud

Make me think
Make me pull my hair out

Make me a kid again

Make me adventurous

Make me want to cry
Make me love life and tolerate the hard work

But mostly

My boys make my heart overflow with love

Hard Cider

I was looking through Yankee magazine and was reading an article on a hard cider brewery in New Hampshire when I decided that I just had to get me some. I looked online at Farnum Hill Orchards but couldn't find any local retailers. Sure, I could order some from a place in upstate New York or from New Jersey, but I decided to look a little more local. Blacksmiths vineyard is just up the road a bit in Casco. I have always wanted to check them out but never got around to it. One of my interns this month is from Casco and gave their Rhubarb wine a great review for a novice wine drinker. I went to their website and, sure enough they have a hard cider that they brew. They sell at all the local supermarkets but also at The Good Life Market up in Raymond. This market is an upscale sandwich shop, local food mart, and wine retailer. Mel and I went in for sandwiches and I came out with a bottle of Blacksmiths Rough Cut Cider. This stuff is good. Sweet, and clean and still very much a wine. Not dry or tart like many wines can be or overly fruity like many fruit wines make themselves into. I will definitely be looking for more local hard ciders.

October swim

I had planned on doing this as early in the month as possible. No such luck. October 11th is not too bad I guess. So I thought. It was sunny, with a mild breeze. Just jump in, swim out to the float and come back. Really it had been such a hot summer, I am sure the water was still pretty warm. After all I have seen the mist drifting up from the lake on the cooler mornings so I knew that the lake was warmer than the air. First it was just me, then Jaren said he wanted to go also, then his friend Nick. Strider and Dean decided to put on their suits as well.

Jumping in was breathtaking, it was hard not to climb back out and say thats it, good enough. I forced myself to swim to the float, short shallow breaths. The ladder on the float was slipper from non-use and the top was covered with duck poop. Jaren and Nick were right behind me and I helped them up on the float. Reese was in the kayak paddling back and forth in front of us. I actually thought of getting in the kayak and riding back in with him. I knew I couldn't do that. Now the hardest part was jumping back into the water. It was cold up on the float but memories of the water was not good. Nick and Jar went first and I waited until they were most of the way in before diving into the water. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess I had got used to it, it was still cold but I casually made my way out of the water and high fived Dean and Strider as they splashed around in the shallow end.