You now know the basic steps of home winemaking and the basic flavors you can achieve. You know what an apple wine should taste like, as well as raspberry, carrot, herb, and flower wines.Now we will start to play around. Think about those basic wines you have made. Invite a few friends over, open some bottles, sip, taste, and think.What would happen if you combined that apple that was a bit sweet with the carrot that was a bit dry? Mix up a glass and try it. What do you think? Is it better? Is there more balance? Is it simply insipid? Less apple, more carrot? More apple, less carrot?When you bottled your wines, I hope you followed my advice and bottled several different wines at the same time, creating some Mystery Wines with the leftovers. Try a few of those. What have you got? A few mistakes, for sure, but maybe some surprising successes. Go back through your notes.Say one bottle is one-third cherry and two-thirds raspberry. The cherry may have seemed harsh when you bottled it, but then smoothed out delightfully later.
