Love at First Wine

Twenty-three years ago, I gave my husband a chance at a first date. Little did I know, we would be side by side on this adventure we call life. We don’t celebrate anniversaries in any major way, but for the anniversary of our first official date we try to do something special, fun, or alone. Come on parents, who’s with me on that! This year Steve surprised me with a Pinot Noir Wine Kit. We had talked about trying this in the past, but the timing wasn’t right, it seemed like a lot of work, we had too much going on with the kids, etc. There were plenty of excuses!

Since there was a wine kit in front of me, I couldn’t let it go to waste. So, we began preparing our first wine, and boy was that interesting. The nerdy husband of mine was getting geeked up about all the chemicals and fancy terminology, while I was thinking, how long do I have to wait before I can try this wine! Which, the answer to this is 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, basically whenever I want. However, it gets better with age, so best to wait a bit!

Once prepared for primary fermentation, this Private Reserve Pinot Noir smelled earthy, oaky, and grapey (no surprise there). The juice itself, was smooth and of course, super concentrated. We had to try a couple drops! We both enjoy pinot noir, which is mostly produced as a single varietal wine (not a blend, like a Merlot tends to be). It is generally less acidic than other red wines, making it smooth and easy to drink.

At this point, we were making Pinot Noir for ourselves, and didn’t need to name it. But shortly thereafter, as the idea for a business grew, we knew we needed to name this first batch something special. So came Love at First Wine.