Elephant Island Wines in Penticton, BC is a yearly stop for us. They make Apple, Pear, Black Current, Apricot, crab apple, you name it. They even make fortified wine, desert wines, casis and Port as well. Fantastic stuff!
Not exactly wine, but my grandma used to have a neighbor that made apricot, cherry, peach, choke cherry, and several other kinds of brandy. Primarily they were made for cooking, but they were pretty good as a drink, just really damn strong.
Over 20 years ago, I tasted some strawberry wine from Bargetto Winery in Soquel, CA. ( A bit larger than a mom-n-pop operation)
It was like liquid strawberries - heavenly. Apparently very difficult to make, I kept asking for it but they never made it again. They do have 3 good dessert wines still… Occasionally others.
I’ve always been under the impression that it can’t be called wine unless it is made from grapes. It can be called an alcoholic fruit beverage or somesuch, but not wine.
There is a winery in the Niagara region called East Dell Estates (www.eastdell.com), which used to make fruit wines, but they have stopped because their grape wines (their main business) were becoming so successful that they decided to concentrate on it.
One of their BEST fruit wines was actually an Icewine…a Winter Apple. It was sweet, but very good - it went very well with pork or as a dessert wine. I had hoped they had more, but they sold out. I believe other Niagara vinyards might be taking advantage of the prime ice-wine type weather and making fruit icewines…if you’re ever in the area, I definitely recommend a couple of winery tours!!
My friends’ grandma made black cap raspberry wine that was really more a liqueur…it was intense, fruity, with a great feel, I wish to god she was still alive to make it
I use to live in Frederick and have been to Linganore Winery many times. The festivals and wine tastings are assume. The owners tour of the place is great and very theatrical. Not a fan of the Dandeline Wine but was going to post it.
My parents own a strawberry farm which is in peak season right now. Several people buy “old” berries at half-price to make homemade strawberry wine.
I have no idea how it’s done or what it tastes like though.
I’ve had blackberry wine on occasion. My husband’s grandparents keep a bottle of it on hand as an old-timey remedy for indigestion. Amazingly, it works wonders for an upset stomach. Very tart and very “berry-ish” in flavor, if that makes any sense.
There’s a winery, called Nashoba Winery, outside Boston, that makes quite a variety of fruit wines. My personal favorite is their Cranberry Apple, which is a nice accompaniment to Thanksgiving turkey. Their Sparkling Apple Wine is also very good.
Washington state has outstanding dry fruit wines. Raspberry wine made by the Hoodsport and Paul Thomas wineries are heavenly, especially when accompanied by dark, rich chocolate.
The Clear Creek pear brandy is intense; the bottles without the imprisoned pear are a lot cheaper to purchase.