Withlacoochee Red

This year we entered seven wines in the Florida State Fair International Wine and Grape Juice competition, Amateur Division. To our surprise we won 6 medals, two silvers for a Carlos wine we called Spring Carlos and a Welder we called Dry Welder. Maybe seasoned winemakers can claim to be droll about such honors but for us it was a wonderful thing. We immediately celebrated by opening one of the silver medal winners and toasting the internet for making what little knowledge we've gained about this amazing process possible.

This label was created for a Noble red wine that we decided needed a little help beyond the fermentation process. It was just too weak, 10% alcohol, and tasted a lot like plain grape juice. No character. So, we designed a label to give it the visual character it lacked in taste. It just wanted to be called Withlacoochee Red because the grapes were grown in the Withlacooche River Basin, and since the Green Swamp, from where the river flows, is filled with stories about the truly strange characters who lived there, it could not go without a story about a man called "Withlacoochee Red". Here's his story which we printed on an additional lable on the back of the bottle:

• The legendary Withlacoochee Red had a beard down to his waist that was as red as a winter sunset. He was an Irish immigrant who lived as a mysterious recluse in the Green Swamp with his cat, Jawbone, until his mule died in 1929 from snake bite. He disappeared after that leaving only a shed full of Red Muscadine Wine that was rumored to have the ability to make weak man strong, a dull girl bright, and a dog able to smell a possum a mile away. This bottle, a fine muscadine rendition of Withlacoochee Red's secret formula, holds no such qualities except for the delicate aroma and taste only grapes grown in the Withlacoochee River Valley can claim.

It didn't help the taste but it sure made it easier to give it away to our friends.