Band Name of the Day

10/28/03’s illustrious band:

Chokecherry Bliss

Brought to you by the Prairie Berry Winery: South Dakota wines since 1876.

South Dakota wines? I’d never heard of such a thing, either, until my sister moved to Arizona. It’s a long way to go to learn about one’s home, I agree, but sometimes that’s what happens.

See, Sister-san and Chef Jeff got the keys to their new house last night. Their mothers had made sure that all family members had a bottle of wine to open at the appointed time to celebrate this event. Mother Media, who had recently discovered the Prairie Berry Winery, sent me a bottle of Great Grandma’s Chokecherry Bliss. So that’s how Arizona got me in touch with South Dakota wine.

Great Grandma’s Chokecherry Bliss, according to the brochure Mother Media sent with the bottle, is a “chokecherry port wine made from late harvest chokecherries. It has been fortified with kirschwasser spirits and is a premium sipping wine. Serve chilled.” Suggested food pairings are chocolate cake, mousse and cheesecake; it rates five sugar cubes out of five on the sweetness scale. The web site says that GG’s CB was awarded a bronze medal at the 2001 Indiana International Wine Competition. (Again: Indiana International Wine Competition? Who knew?)

I can personally attest to the sweetness of this wine. Five sugar cubes is maybe a little on the shy side. Still, it’s meant to be a dessert wine and fills the bill nicely -- in my humble opinion, anyway. I’ll certainly chill it now that I know. Half a glass at the end of a day really hits the spot. I see from the web site, www.prairieberry.com, that I can have mail-order wine shipped across state lines, so maybe I’ll think about expanding my wine cellar. Oh, wait, Sensational Acres doesn’t have a cellar. Well, my wine cupboard, then.

Other vintages available from Prairie Berry:

White wines: Buffaloberry, Heritage (a semi-sweet wine made with fruity sweet pears), and Gold Digger (a sweet pear wine made with hand-picked domestic pears).
Blush wines: Dry Wild Plum (a “dry, toasty” wine aged in French oak), Rhubarb, Raspberry Honeywine (sounds great!), Razzy Apple (apple/raspberry blend; also sounds good), and Sweet Wild Plum.
Red wines: Wild Grape, Pheasant Reserve (made from a blend of wild grapes and chokecherries; medium-bodied with a toasty finish), Great Grandma’s Chokecherry (different from GG’s Chokecherry Bliss; only two sugar cubes), Razzy Rhubarb (raspberries and rhubarb), Chokecherry Medley (chokecherries and elderberries), Cranberry (made three-cube sweet somehow) and Concord.
Dessert wines: Great Grandma’s Chokecherry Bliss, described above, and Fredd Red, made with fresh cherries. I’d love to try that one!

The web site tells us that Prairie Berry, like all great wineries, is founded on family tradition. The vintners are the great-great grandchildren of Czechoslovakian immigrants Josefa Pesa Kalda and Josef Kalda, who began making wines from native South Dakota berries and fruits in 1876.

See? You learn something new every day. So let’s all raise a toast to Sister-san and Chef Jeff’s new desert dwelling and newfound knowledge of dessert wine.

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