A Canadian Winemaker and Her Lasting Impact

watermelon and pear wines in the secondary fermenters

Hello, Carboys!

poor photo re-take but that was me at 6

The summer I turned six, I was lucky to meet a woman who seemed ageless. Her name was Jerry, and she became a close friend to my mother. Every summer thereafter for many years, I would return with my family to the country store in Ontario that Jerry and her husband owned, where we would pick up supplies for our continuing homesteading adventure on Cloud Lake. And on every trip to the store, Jerry and Mom would catch up over a glass of wine.

On one return visit, I remarked that Jerry never seemed to age. She laughed and said, "Why, child, that's because I'm pickled, eh!" Then she turned to my mother and winked.

Mom explained to me later that Jerry not only made wine, she probably imbibed a little more than she should. Still, I was fascinated and the fascination lingered so that, for a few years now, I have tried making several varieties of wine myself.

Because of my fear of over-drinking, I carefully limit my wine consumption to no more than one glass a day. Similarly, I don't want to poison anybody so I proceed with caution, following only trusted recipes and using only the most highly-recommended utensils. Just lately, I've tried other fruits besides grapes, and to my surprise the experiment has proven awesome! Blackberry and plum have been especially delightful!

With a bumper crop of watermelons this past summer, Chris convinced me to try making use of this fruit in winemaking. Then he brought me a friend's pears! Where will this end? Although very grateful, I reminded him that I was really a fan of the grape wines because of their link to heart health and I planned to try canned grape pulp next since our grape crop had been so poor at the same time that the watermelons were thriving. Before I could muster up the courage to spend the money on it, Chris surprised me with grape pulp!

The grape pulp is next to a decoration a friend of mine made from a wine bottle we shared.

Winemaking is a slow process when you don't add chemicals that would speed it up. The old-fashioned method allows the flavors to fully develop while keeping the final product pure. I like that. When you control the ingredients, the end result is pure delight. The anticipation and delayed gratification you experience after the fruit juice spends almost a year in fermentation makes it a pleasingly complex hobby.


So now, Carboys, move on over and just wait your turn! It's time for my attention to turn to my Primary Fermenter again and my first love for winemaking! Bring on the grapes! 


Making the wine and sharing it with friends and family is "WOW!" for me. A perfect pleasure! I don't sell it, so if you want to enjoy a glass with me, we'll need to get together and do some catching up ourselves!