I just opened the first bottle of wine I've ever made

I just had the pleasure of opening a bottle of Plum wine I started back in August 2008 and bottled in Feb 09. The sticky I stuck on the bottle said to wait until August, but I just couldn't wait anymore.

I was really scared it would be oxygenated or taste terrible, but omg it's amazing! It can stand to age a few more months, but the taste currently is beyond what I was expecting. I'm so happy it turned out well!

I just want to say thanks to everyone out there for all the wisdom; even the folks who don't post often really appreciate all the accumulated knowledge on the board.

Hmmm....you give me hope yet for starting some blackberry wine this summer!

woo! Congrats! awesome feeling isnt it?

I remember my first wine batch. It was almost 25 years ago, as a child.
Grandma made cranberry wine every year and there were Blackberry bushes in the open field across the way. I made a gallon of blackberry wine that summer.
She bottled it for me and the following year i got to 'sample' it.

My Grandfather and his Masonic Brothers finished the rest.

I must admit that all of my vices came from my Grandparents
I do miss them.

That's awesome! I still have a bottle (I think) of my first wine to have in about 3 more years. Some of my favorites have been wines that initially I didn't have high hopes for, and some of my least favorite have been wines that sounded so great in the beginning. It's been fun figuring it all out.

My favorite thing to do is to have people over for dinner (I'm not a bad cook) and to open a bottle of wine and have them rave over the wine. Then, saying, "Oh, that? No, it's not a cab. It's chokecherry that I made in '06. Glad you like it!"

Agreed. I had such high hopes for many of my wiine experiments. The ginger and the tomato spring prominantly to mind. (Word of advice, don't bother. Although after 2 years in a carboy the tomato is KILLER to cook with. Sucks in a glass, great on a plate.) But the year we had a bumper crop of peaches... Wow. And the annual Strawberry wine makes me cry with joy come February. And everyonce in a great while you knock a grape wine out of the park and then you are definately cock of the walk.

Hey Yoop, how about a HBT wine comp? I've got a Bordeaux that will knock your socks off.