Blueberry Wine?

If you read the blog, you know that I enjoy a bottle of Petite Sirah fairly often and rave about the ‘blueberry pie’ flavors that are typical of the varietal. That said, I did a double-take when I saw this wine news story on wine that’s made from fermented blueberries…

OregonLive.com reports here on a local blueberry farmer in Lebanon, Oregon who is looking into turning some of his crops into wine.

I did a little research and found out that there are quite a few blueberry wine makers out there… who knew?!

www.blueberrywine.com is the website for the Chester Hills Winery in Chester, MA, where they pose the question:  Why Blueberry wine?  The answer is essentially the weather in Chester doesn’t really allow them to grow good wine grapes, but they can grow a whole lot of blueberries.  They also point out that the antioxidants found in blueberries make us healthy and since blueberry wine is made the same way that red wine is made, it must be just as healthy… (click here for their evidence).

They have several styles of blueberry wine, all around 13 bucks a bottle.  I’m intrigued by the “New Blue”, described as:  ‘A fruity, ruby red dinner wine with just a hint of sweetness and a lingering after taste of spices and nuts.  1.5% residual sugar. Wonderful with spicy foods, such as Mexican, Chinese, Indian and Thai, tomato sauces, grilled dishes,  poultry and, of course, with turkey at Thanksgiving.’

Sounds interesting; I’m glad I scour the news for all things wine-related.  I’m going to seek out a bottle and get back to you on this one…