vin de noix

I've had a long fascination with walnut wine, as part of a general addiction to vermouth-like beverages. Traditionally made with walnuts harvested on the Feast of the St. John the Baptist (June 24), it's not so much "wine" as it is a tea made with wine, brandy, green walnuts, sugar and aromatics. If you've ever held a green walnut in your hand you'll immediately understand the potential - an intoxicating mix of pine and citrus.

I had put out a plaintive call for green walnuts back in June, but a weekend trip to northern Michigan in mid-July yielded a half-bushel from a low-hanging tree in Empire and the beginnings of a wee chemical experiment.








After 5 months in the cellar (3 in "cask", 2 in the bottle) I can offically announce my first batch of vin de noix.

My version was made with a case of sale Cote-du-Rhone from Binny's, a liter of cheap grappa, 60-odd green walnuts, corn sugar, orange peel, clove and vanilla bean - again, very similar to sweet vermouth or any number of other wine-based amaro. After only a month or two, it was still very screechy, medicinal and tannic. Plus, it tended to throw a wicked sediment, which required lots of filtration (aka coffee filters) before bottling. With plenty of time to mellow, though, it is out-and-out delicious. Deep and dark in the glass, it is earthy and plummy, subtly sweet but still with a slighly bitter kick on the end to keep things honest. I keep my stash in a relatively cold room - maybe 55 degress - and serve it straight out of the bottle as an aperitif or digestif.

Unfortunately, my stash is already down to three bottles. I'm already looking forward to next summer's harvest...

- Fillay