Posted on 11/05/2003 4:33:55 PM PST by SJackson
IRON RIVER -- The sharp scent of crushed apples permeates Jon and Kim Hamilton's White Winter Winery these days, as they brew another batch of cider from bushels of Bayfield County apples.
Sometime this week, it will smell like pears, when Mr. Hamilton grinds up a few bushels of the fruit and starts some hard cider.
But their real specialty, he says, is the oldest fermented beverage in the world -- mead, or honey wine. "We specialize in making mead, which is simply honey and water and yeast fermented out," Mr. Hamilton said. "We make two traditional meads -- our sweet mead is actually most like what you would be served during the eighth or ninth century if you were dining with the king and queen.
"And one of the great stories about mead is that it was where the honeymoon tradition began. Way back then, the married couple would receive a 30-day supply -- or a 'moon's' supply -- of mead to ensure a fruitful union. And it was thought that the sweeter the mead, the sweeter the union."
Unfortunately, in those patriarchal times, if the first child born of that marriage was a boy, "they would say it must have been a really sweet mead," he said. "If it was a girl, many times the mead maker would be put to death."
The other traditional mead made at White Winter Winery is a dry mead, which he describes as "very light and floral."
They also produce fruity "melomel" meads, with locally grown raspberries, blueberries and strawberries; pyment, a mead made of grapes and honey; cyser, an Old English form of cider made with fresh apple cider and honey; and bracket or braggot, more of a Viking style of mead made of malt and honey, a cross between mead and ale.
Their latest product, although not in full production yet, is Blue Spritz, a carbonated nonalcoholic drink made from local blueberries, which debuted at the Bayfield Apple Fest.
Established by the Hamiltons in 1996, in an old house along Highway 2 in Iron River, White Winter Winery is using relatively high-tech production methods to make these ancient products.
The first floor of the home has been converted into a showroom for displaying their wares. The 1,200-square-foot white-washed basement is crowded with stainless steel milk bulk tanks, plastic tubing, filtering and carbonating equipment, and plastic barrels. A small lab in one corner has all the chemistry equipment needed to test their products for specific gravity and acidity.
Mr. Hamilton admits that their operation is tiny compared to name-brand brewers -- they produce about 5,000 to 6,000 gallons a year. But he is quick to point out that they are using about 21,000 pounds of locally produced fruit and 20,000 pounds of honey at White Winter Winery.
"All of that is from within 90 miles of our shop and most is from 50 miles or less," he said. "So you can see how many local farmers benefit from this little operation."
He strongly believes that the Bayfield peninsula, with its apple orchards and small fruit farms, could be the next Napa Valley, if a few more small wineries were established.
They now sell about 86 percent of their beverages right at the winery, but are working toward selling more through wholesalers and retailers "so we won't have to rely on the vagaries of weather and road construction," Mr. Hamilton said.
This fall, White Winter Winery is undertaking a major expansion of production, potentially increasing their production from 12,000 bottles a year in 2001 to 25,000 bottles a year within the first year of the expansion. By the end of the third year, production is projected to increase to 60,000 bottles of mead.
The operation will be moving west a couple of blocks, into the new Iron River Enterprise Center on Highway 2, quadrupling their floor space and production capacity. "Right now, we run out of stuff every single year," Mr. Hamilton said. "So we're trying hard to keep up with demand."
Hey, hey. Braggot
he said 'braggot.'
...great selection of music...just add some Ian Mathews - as in Mathews Southern Comfort - and ya got a regular patchouli tie-dye thing going on. (I actually do like this stuff, although I have never had anything tie-dyed.)
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