Visitors from Virginia

We were blessed with a brief visit from our family in the USA.

Magnus' Aunt Nancy joined us for a week in paradise, along with his parents.

Below we are sampling some of Magnus' Amazing Strawberry Guava Wine. This bottle had been aging since last October and the flavor developed in fantastic and unexpected ways.



Taking off our shoes in order to cross the river into another realm, the family took a trip to visit our Jungle House.

Summer Wine

Our neighbors allowed us to glean their orchard this year, giving us more plums than we could eat or store, so we brewed them!



This brew has been bubbling non-stop since last October!



First we brewed Strawberry Guava wine and then we drank about 15 litres from the batch, managing to bottle 2 litres for a special occasion.

The end of the brew coincided with Citrus season this spring, so we decided to add 15 litres of Tangerine and Sweet Orange to the existing 5 litres of brew.

Once again we drank about 15 litres of this odd mix and bottled one litre.

Now, we have added 15 litres of plum juice and it is fermenting away.



Our first summer wine is amazing and going entirely too quickly during the festive atmosphere of summer on the island of Flowers.

Making Wine with Psidium Cattleianum

One of the joys of the "gloom season" is the abundance of these little fruits. Commonly called Strawberry Guava, they are native to South America and grow wild on Flores.

These little fruits are high in Calcium, Iron, Vitamin A, B, and C...even surpassing citrus!
They also contain high amounts of phytonutrients, including carotenoids and polyphenols that can protect cells from damage, lower risk of cardiovascular disease and provide other health benefits.

We have been brewing up excellent wine using a Saccharomyces bayanus strain of yeast that produces an effervescent pink brew that is fruity and dry at the same time. Vey nice to drink day or night, especially when you cannot tell the difference for all the black clouds hovering overhead!

With all the nutritional benefits of this wine you never catch the flu or have a hang over either.