Bear Creek Winery - Homer Alaska

I read somewhere that almost every single state in the U.S. produces some wine -- when I found out that there was a winery in Alaska, I knew that statement must be true.

My brother and his wife just returned from a trip to Alaska and while they were there they visited Bear Creek Winery in Homer. Obviously grapes are not grown in Alaska, so the winery uses berries (blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, gooseberry), rhubarb, and other unusual ingredients (ie: fireweed petals) to produce wine. My brother got a bottle of wine for my parents called Black Raspberry wine, which I got a chance to try today. There was no vintage on the bottle (no suprise there), nor was there any indication of what the wine was made from (other than the name). Since my brother knows that my parents are Manishewitz drinkers, he choose an especially sweet wine for them. (The winery itself describes this wine as "A sweeter wine, bursting with true-to-the fruit flavor.") I tried it with some trepidation.

The bouquet was of cough syrup or the fruit cordial filling you sometimes get in chocolates - sweet, fruity, and somewhat cloying. The taste was remarkably similar to the aroma - it tasted like raspberry juice cocktail blend with an odd, semi-unpleasant twist at the end. (I guess that was the alcohol). It's certainly not something you could drink very much of, nor is it something that I'm likely to try again, although I will note that my parents did like it. Stay tuned for my review of a drier wine from the same winery that my brother brought back for me - Shirazzberry. My brother also brought back several bottles of Bear Creek's version of Mead (honey wine) for himself.