Description
Wine Making Procedures:
The blueberries were harvested in May and flash frozen, thawed and then crushed to improve flavor and color extraction. The must was then inoculated with select yeast strains. Fermentation proceeded for a period of about one week in open top stainless steel tanks to fully extract the Florida sunshine that forms the sugars, flavor, and colors in the fruit and antioxidant rich skins. Following methods similar to traditional Port making, fermentation was then arrested through fortification with Florida citrus brandy spirits. The fruit pomace was then drained and pressed to extract every essence from the fruit.
The final wine was gravity settled and then coarse filtered directly off the lees followed by a fine filtering. Before bottling, the wine was balanced using a small amount of blueberry concentrate. The end result is a rich and rare desert wine that contains the equivalent of 4.8 kilograms of fruit per liter of wine (6 pounds of fruit in each 500 mL bottle).
Sensory:
Full bodied, rich fruits. Intense blueberry color and favors, dark red fuits, black cherries, figs and citrus jam, and evergreen tree notes, with toasty oak, hazel nut and spice aromas. This is a full-bodied, long finish dessert wine.
Serving Suggestions:
This is a wonderfully rich dessert wine that goes well with many richly flavored cheeses, smoked and salted nuts and meats, and chocolate and caramel deserts and fruits. Serve at or just below room temperature. Service size: 85 mL (3 oz) preferably in a port glass.
