Quest for Wine - 2 May 09
 "Do It Yourself" at the Grist Mill Winery

Since last summer Angie and I have been making our own wine, courtesy of the Grist Mill Winery. It's a "brew your own" facility located in the small town of Kimberly, about 30 minutes from our home and right in the heart of the Beaver Valley area in Grey County. We had always talked about making our own wine and beer and just happened to stumble upon the Grist Mill while out on one of our rides last year. We stopped in to see what it was all about and were so impressed by the staff and the operation that we ordered our first batches (a Valpolicella and a chocolate Port) on the spot. We've been regular customers there ever since.

Our latest crop had matured and was due for bottling today, so at my insistence (Her Majesty thought it was too cold and wanted to take the car) we saddled up on our bikes this morning to go get the job done. And away we went, taking HWY 4 west out of Durham. 

First stop was at the The South Grey Inn for brekkie. It is located on HWY 10 at the south end of Flesherton, just up from where HWY 4 intersects it, and is one of our favourite spots to eat. We usually manage to work it into our weekend ride schedule, as the food is very good and reasonably priced. The service is fast, too and it wasn't long before we were tucking into our meals. They keep a good stock of the Grey County tourism maps, too, a must have if you ever tour our neck of the woods. Check out http://www.visitgrey.ca/  for more info about the county's attractions and to print your own copy of the map.
Although it was still a little on the cool side, the trip was enjoyable. We had the strong wind at our backs and traffic was light along our route. We stopped for gas at the Ultramar on HWY 4 just east of Flesherton to fill up and as I wandered into the store to pay the cashier, I spotted a sign for a missing horse posted on the door. I made a smartassed comment about how could anyone lose a horse because they're so frickin' huge as compared to, say, a dog or a cat. The young lady behind the till explained to me that it was her horse and that he had jumped the fence last night and wandered off into the dense bush somewhere. I felt like an ass, especially since she was obviously quite upset and worried, so I apologised and wished her luck in finding him soon.

 A little further down HWY 4 we turned north onto Grey Rd 13, passing through the town of Eugenia before arriving at the winery in Kimberly. Beaver Valley is a very scenic and beautiful area to ride through and with Spring in the air it was quite the sight. The winery itself is located in an old grist mill; the upper floors now serving as apartments while the winery is down in the spacious basement. Terry, the owner, who rides a BMW, was quite pleased to see me roll up on the Ural.

As this was our fifth bottling session, we knew what to do and settled quickly into the routine. As the bottles are reusable, the first step was to wash and sanitise them in the cleaning station. Angie got to work and had the batch done in no time.

I was in charge of the filling and corking stations, keeping a close eye on the process to ensure just the right amount went into each bottle. Today we were bottling a Gewurtztraminer, our first attempt at a white wine, along with a batch of cream Sherry. After corking them all in the tall stainless steel contraption just visible past my big head, the bottles were sent over to the labeling station. Our personalised labels were then applied by hand, a sleeve was heat shrunk into place over the neck and each bottle was packed back into the safety of its box for the trip home. 

After about 40 minutes - one of our best efforts yet - we were ready to roll. Just in time, too, as the next group of eager customers had arrived to start bottling their batch. Angie handed the full cases to me from the basement window and I carefully placed them on top of a blanket in the sidecar. Terry came out to take a photo; I think it was the first time ever that a customer had shown up on a sidecar rig to haul their wine away and he wanted to capture the moment.

Four cases of 750ml bottles, 48 in total, fit just nicely into the tub. Now, if there's any wine connoisseurs out there all aghast about transporting green wine this way, rest assured the Ural's sidecar is a safe and comfortable haven. The sidecar wheel has its own suspension and the tub sits atop rubber encased coil springs; every passenger who has ridden in it has always been surprised at just how comfy and relaxing the experience was and I'm pretty sure the wine would agree.

We left the winery and headed for home, backtracking south out of town to Grey Rd 30, where we headed east and up the side of the valley. It is a steep hill, but the Ural chuffed its way to the top with no trouble despite the added weight of all the booty in the tub. We followed the road until it intersected with Grey Rd 12, which we followed east into the town of Markdale. We crossed HWY 6 at the main intersection in town and continued on 12, passing by the Chapman's Ice Cream factory where I work. A half hour later we pulled into our driveway in Durham... just in time to help our neighbours unload a frickin' heavy Paper Birch yearling tree from their minivan into a wheelbarrow and trundle it across their yard to its waiting hole in the ground.

It was a good workout and, coupled with the task of lugging four cases of wine into the wine cellar of our basement afterwards, ensured that I had worked up a good appetite for supper. Which, of course, included a fresh bottle of Palmer-Fyke Estates "Gummi's Gewurtztraminer" to wash it down.

(rides) (home)