Orange Fruit Wine (Melomel)
What is it?
Melomel is a special name given to mead that also contains fruit [1]. The vintner of this particular melomel uses oranges grown in his backyard as the fruit addition. To make it, he juices and strains the orange juice, and then adds it to water, honey, and yeast.
The batch of melomel we tried was not carbonated, however, we may eventually be given a batch that is carbonated. We had this melomel on its own. As this was our first venture into melomel territory, the ratings are somewhat arbitrary as we don't have any metric or other experience to compare it to. We also don't have specific tasting notes or pairings that were suggested. Some primary flavors that could be attributed to this melomel are citronelle and orange peel/pith. We would also suggest pairing this with a shortbread cookie or a gingersnap.
Molly's Rating and Tasting Notes
6.8*. On the nose, there's some honey and some ambiguous plant (like the leafy part or the stem). However, the taste has very little residual sweetness; any hint of the sweetness is quickly replaced with a very strong taste of the white, waxy part of an orange peel. After a few sips, the strong initial flavor becomes less shocking, but only slightly. I think this is a wine I could get acclimated to, but it might take a week, as does altitude. I look forward to trying the "better bottle" promised to us. *Note: this is comparing it to grape wines. I've never had an orange fruit wine before, so it's probably an 8.0 on that scale.
Ryan's Rating and Tasting Notes
6.8. On the nose I get honey, orange leaves, and nail polish remover. Upon tasting, the first thing I notice is the strong acidity up front. There are big herbal notes as well as undertones of orange. It's not super sweet, and is in fact a little bit bitter. It is reminiscent of the pith of the orange that has been soaked in some chemicals. The taste is similar to the scent of the lemongrass and citronelle Method Heavy Duty Degreaser. There is not much of an aftertaste, but the acidic, bitter feeling lingers for a while. Overall, I'm not in love with it, but I appreciate the effort.
References
[1] "Mead - Varieties." Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead#Varieties. Accessed: July 2023.
Wines we haven't finished
- None this week!