wine 101: step 1

Everyone else is commenting on today's election, so I thought I might share a little opinion and an accompanying anecdote. This involves the Obama campaign's relentless quest to get as many people to vote as possible.

I agree that the more voters who vote, the better. Therefore, I didn't snarl and curse when they interrupted me while I was out on a run down the street, or slam the door when they came to my door to see if I'd registered. What I did mind is how they called my house THREE TIMES today. I voted weeks ago absentee. Sam got up and voted at 6am.

The first call came at 8:30am. Sam said, "I voted at 6am." The second call came at 2pm. Sam said, "I voted at 6am." The third call came at 4:20pm and not only inquired whether Sam had voted, but whether he had voted for Obama. That caller was lucky Sam did not lose his patience. Again, I understand the desire to get people to vote, but think how many minutes this organization wasted by not marking down at 8:30am that the person at this phone number already voted! (P.S. I didn't vote for Obama. I didn't vote for McCain either. Ha.)

Wine, unlike political organizations, is not needy. So let's move on to today's step in soycube's home winemaking manual.

STEP 1: Clean the fruit.
As I mentioned in the ingredients, if you're making one gallon of wine you need to prepare at least one quart of fruit. Make sure it is ripe in order to get the best flavor from it. Most fruit comes with a peel and maybe some green leaves or stems. These need to be removed. Any green material adds chlorophyl to the must and causes a funny taste. Likewise, peels, stems, cores, and seeds are not condusive to tasty wine. Apples, pears, peaches, and the like should be peeled and cored/pitted; berries should just be cleaned (mulberries need to have their little green stems removed - not fun, by the way). Once everything is cleaned, larger fruit should be cut up into smaller sections, approximately about an inch cubed.