We just started making wine in 2008. Since then we have made eight different wines, six at home and one at a Virginia winery and another at a Maryland teaching winery. The reason we started making wine was the realization that since we were writing about wine, we should make it. This reasoning was probably the result of our careers in education and life-long learning attitude. So its no wonder that as we prepared for a new companion website on food that emphasizes cheese, wine vinegar and olive and grape seed oils that we should try to make some of those items.
We were told while visiting a Maryland creamery that Mozzarella cheese was the easiest to make. We followed the directions precisely and I recalled the feeling I had when following the kit wine directions on the first wine I made. Well, the Mozzarella did not turn out as we expected. It was the consistency of peanut butter. We did make Ricotta from the left over whey that did turn out as expected, so our first attempt was partially successful. Since that first cheese making attempt, I’ve had several winemakers tell me they were not successful when they tried to make Mozzarella. Misery enjoys company.
A week ago we started a batch of wine vinegar. The directions are much easier. Take a good red wine, add mother of red wine vinegar and place in a container with cheesecloth covering the opening. Finding the vinegar container was the most challenging part, although the Internet has plenty of sites to choose from. The next challenge was what wine to use. I went with my 2010 Petite Sirah because the alcohol was only 12.5 % and my thinking was that I would have to add less water to dilute the acid of the final vinegar. We’ll see if that was a good choice in a few months.
The website: Food.WineTrailTraveler.com focuses on cheese, wine vinegar and olive and grape seed oils. It has articles about these foods as well as articles about destinations such as creameries and olive oil producers. There is a recipe section that uses cheese, vinegar or oil in the ingredients. New recipes are added monthly. There is a list of events that focus on cheese, vinegar or oils. A forum section is for the community that would like to post or read comments.
Check out the newest member of the family of WineTrailTraveler websites at: http://food.winetrailtraveler.com.
Cheers,
Terry
Companion Website Launches
We just started making wine in 2008. Since then we have made eight different wines, six at home and one at a Virginia winery and another at a Maryland teaching winery. The reason we started making wine was the realization that since we were writing about wine, we should make it. This reasoning was probably the result of our careers in education and life-long learning attitude. So its no wonder that as we prepared for a new companion website on food that emphasizes cheese, wine vinegar and olive and grape seed oils that we should try to make some of those items.
We were told while visiting a Maryland creamery that Mozzarella cheese was the easiest to make. We followed the directions precisely and I recalled the feeling I had when following the kit wine directions on the first wine I made. Well, the Mozzarella did not turn out as we expected. It was the consistency of peanut butter. We did make Ricotta from the left over whey that did turn out as expected, so our first attempt was partially successful. Since that first cheese making attempt, I’ve had several winemakers tell me they were not successful when they tried to make Mozzarella. Misery enjoys company.
A week ago we started a batch of wine vinegar. The directions are much easier. Take a good red wine, add mother of red wine vinegar and place in a container with cheesecloth covering the opening. Finding the vinegar container was the most challenging part, although the Internet has plenty of sites to choose from. The next challenge was what wine to use. I went with my 2010 Petite Sirah because the alcohol was only 12.5 % and my thinking was that I would have to add less water to dilute the acid of the final vinegar. We’ll see if that was a good choice in a few months.
The website: Food.WineTrailTraveler.com focuses on cheese, wine vinegar and olive and grape seed oils. It has articles about these foods as well as articles about destinations such as creameries and olive oil producers. There is a recipe section that uses cheese, vinegar or oil in the ingredients. New recipes are added monthly. There is a list of events that focus on cheese, vinegar or oils. A forum section is for the community that would like to post or read comments.
Check out the newest member of the family of WineTrailTraveler websites at: http://food.winetrailtraveler.com.
Cheers,
Terry