WOW… I entered a local wine competition at a very high end local restaurant (Hyeholde) that is ranked the #1 place to eat in Pittsburgh year in and year out…
They had their first annual “My Own Cellar” night and the turn out was pretty good. It appeared from the judging sheets I saw at the end about 40+ wines that people had brought to be judged.
I entered my Dandelion Dessert Wine I made just this year. I bottled it about 6 weeks ago. My recipe was based on a Jack Keller recipe (Modified #1 recipe) where I used one can of Welch’s Niagara instead of raisins. I had originally meant for the wine to be dry but it finished at 1.02… So I let it be, since it tasted pretty good, and called it a dessert wine! I had talked about this wine in another thread here actually: Dandelion thread with whole recipe here.
A Cab/Merlot won 3rd, a meritage #2… When the restaurant owner said, “We have something we didn’t expect as our first ever winner, a dessert wine.” My wife and frieds were all laughing before she even said my name.
They commented my wine had great balance with the sweetness offset with the acidity, along with a great, unique flavor. Their only lackluster comment was the nose. I’ll have to think of how to add a little more nose next time! As I had said in previous posts on this site, I knew a while back this was the best wine I’d made to date (not from a kit.)
I won a gift certificate for 2 that should work out nicely for my anniversary! I also suggested to the owner that since I won, perhaps I could be a judge next year and she said that was a great idea! I already can’t wait!
I got to taste a few of the other entries and there were definately some fine homemade wines out there! I hope you all don’t mind me tooting my own horn a little. I almost didn’t take any wine at all, since I was worried it wouldn’t be well received! So there’s my lesson: Give it a shot, you never know what will happen!
The wine was made originally to be a Xmas present for my grandmother, who requested Dandelion wine like she had in her youth. It was certainly made with love, the dandelions were picked from a church field (makes you think eh?) and it simply turned out perfect.
Again, a special thanks to Jack Keller , whom I hope reads this thread, for the fine, fine recipe. I will certainly make at least a gallon every year to come.
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