No holiday dinner or party would be complete without tasty food. But don’t forget the drink! Instead of the same old white or red wine, consider adding fruit wine to your holiday table this year.
What exactly are fruit wines? They’re basically just like other wines, except they don’t have a base of grapes. Instead, they have a fruit juice base. Fruit wine can be derived from virtually any type of fruit that can undergo fermentation, such as apples, cherries, blueberries, and cranberries.
There are several types of fruit wines, such as:
- Blueberry wine
- Nettle wine
- Cranberry wine
- Pineapple wine
- Apple wine
- Banana wine
- Elderberry wine
- Raspberry wine
- Orange wine
- Red currant wine
Many fruit wines, fortified with extra ingredients such as sugar and honey, contain a balance of sugar, acids, and tannins.
While not as popular as grape wine, fruit wine does have a loyal following for its unique flavor profile. It makes a great adornment to any holiday table, which means you can bring it as a gift to one of the many parties you’ll be headed to this season. Let’s take a look at the fruit wines we make or sell here at Robinette’s.
Apple
We make this tasty fruit wine on site, made from fresh Michigan apples. This semi-sweet wine boasts the intensity of crisp locally-grown apples and features a well-balanced sweet and sour seasonality. Pair it with any fruit-based or savory dish. Usually considered a dessert wine due to the sweetness, you can absolutely enjoy apple wine all year round.
Apple wine is basically a hard apple juice that has been through the wine-making process. It has higher amounts of alcohol, with added nutrients and an adjusted acidity. Bottled and aged, apple wine has an ABV between 10 and 12 percent.
Cranberry
Your mind may automatically go to the tart flavor of cranberry when you think of cranberry fruit wine. This may be true of the fruit itself, but when cranberries are made into wine, you get a wonderful balance of light sweetness and tart cran, giving you a burst of flavor you won’t soon forget. Produced with bog-grown cranberries, the whole fruit is fermented after going through a crusher to break down the tough skin.
Blueberry
Blueberry wine, made from fresh Michigan blueberries, is considered a semi-sweet wine with an intense flavor profile of locally-grown blueberries. It pairs well with any fruit-based dish, but you can certainly just enjoy it on its own. Known as a dessert wine usually enjoyed in summer, you can have it all year round whenever a celebration comes up – such as the holidays.
Pick Up Fruit Wine For Your Holiday Table Today!
Before heading to your next holiday party, pick up a bottle or two of your favorite fruit wine here in our winery, along with mulled wines and hard ciders. Or, make time to stop in for a wine tasting at 3142 4 Mile Rd NE in Grand Rapids. Call us at (800) 400-8100 to learn more.
