The grapes in the vineyard aren't ripe yet, but when the prep is done, it's about time.
Besides, brewing grape fruit wine doesn't necessarily require ripe grapes.
Carrying the small wine jar back to the kitchen and standing directly behind Grandpa Liu, Liu Yusheng unsealed the wine jar. The moment she pulled the cork out of the jar, a strong aroma of fruit wine immediately filled the air.
Grandpa Liu widened his nose and sniffed hard, "What smells so sweet?"
"It smells like wine? No, no, no, it smells like grapes! What is it?"
Sitting around the table, the family searched around with their heads.
"Gegege!" Liu Yusheng laughed, "Grandpa, it's this!"
Raising the wine jar higher, she swung it in front of Grandpa Liu.
"Yo! Wine jar, Nannan, where did you get this?"
Liu Zhixia and Liu Zhiqiu were the first to recognize it, "It's the wine jar! Nannan, didn't you say it was a secret? Why did you bring it out?"
"Grandpa, this is the wine jar Nannan hid away last year!"
"Aiyo, a year ago?" Grandpa Liu was surprised and swallowed, "It's been hidden for so long, what's in it that smells so good?"
It's mouthwatering with a fruity smell of wine, rousing his wine bugs craving for it!
"This old man, you're just thirsting for wine!" Having been married for decades, the old couple knew what both were thinking even with their tails tucked away. Grandma Liu glared at Grandpa Liu before giving Liu Yusheng her attention, "Nannan, give the wine jar to grandma, and grandma will go and wash it. It's been hidden for a year, so I'm afraid the content is already spoiled."
"Eh no-no-no! Let me see, it doesn't smell bad at all." The old man took the first step and grabbed the wine jar over, half squinting his eyes towards the inside.
It was too dim to see.
"Dalin, bring me a clean bowl!"
Liu Dalin stood up and went to fetch a bowl. Although he isn't craving for wine, the taste was indeed seductive. He was curious what Nannan had done to extract this taste.
If he remembers correctly, his daughter was playing with grapes and threw them into the wine, right?
With the celadon bowl on the table, the wine was slowly poured out. It was a beautiful fuchsia, clear and transparent, pleasing to the eye, diffusing a stronger wine aroma in the air.
The only flaw is that the liquor was doped with impurities.
"This color, it's beautiful." Chen Xulan and Du Juan aren't knowledgeable about wine, but that doesn't prevent them from appreciating the color.
"Smells fragrant too!" Liu Erlin swallowed with eyes staring at the purple-red wine liquid in the bowl. He had this urge to have a taste of it.
Before he could make a move, someone had jumped on him.
The old man took a sip from the bowl, so fast that his wife could not stop him, "This old man, you can smell the wine, but did you have to drink it? What if something happens to you...."
"Yum! Good wine!" Grandpa Liu interrupted his wife's scolding with a praise, followed by another sip, smacking his lips with the aftertaste, "The aroma is strong, the taste is mellow and sweet, the aftertaste is lasting and delicious!"
Liu Dalin and Liu Erlin couldn't no longer hold themselves in and together asked, "Father, let me have a sip!"
Grandma Liu, "…." Her heart's hung up!
Can they just drink something like this? That's Nannan's plaything!
Oh, dear, she's going to be asking for the doctor soon!
In the midst of her anxiety, almost half of the wine in the bowl was almost gone!
"Grandma, don't worry, Nannan drank it in secret, and the tummy doesn't hurt." Not to be outdone by grandma's worry, Liu Yusheng told a white lie.
Grandma Liu sighed in relief at first, then her face tightened. She pulled Liu Yusheng out from the old man's back and faced her seriously, "Nannan, how can you secretly drink something carelessly? You're trying to kill Grandma! Don't ever do something like that again, hear me!"
Liu Yusheng hurriedly nodded her head and promised, "Grandma, Nannan will not do it again."
The old man across the table was distressed when he saw the little girl being scolded, "Hey! Wife, I told you, there's no need to make a fuss! This is actually fruit wine, just like the plum wine brewed by those rich families! As long as it's sealed, the longer you leave it, the better! You haven't got our Nannan's insight!"
"Now you're lecturing me, have you got that insight!"
"Of course, I have first-hand knowledge. I was lucky enough to have a drink of green plum wine once before when I went to a rich family for short work. But it's not even close to the taste of this one made by Nannan, hahaha!" Nannan's wine doesn't feel the same as those regular wines upon swallowing it. It not only warms up the abdomen, but also strikes softly, as if soothing the body. And after drinking it, the body feels relaxed to the bones. Liu Erlin also boasted, "I didn't expect that the naughty little girl could make something this good with her hands, it's unique in our entire Nanling!"
Liu Dalin and the others all nodded in approval.
"Here, wife, try a sip too, this one has a sweeter taste, you should be able to drink it." The old man poured out some more wine and handed it to Grandma Liu.
"It's really that good?" Looking at the clear fuchsia color, Grandma Liu was half convinced.
"You'll know once you try it!"
Grandma Liu hesitantly pursed her lips and took a tiny sip, then her eyes widened, "Aiyo! You said it, it really tastes good! Not as bitter as rice wine, but with a sweetness and a fruity taste of grapes!"
"Ya, you're quite deft at tasting. When you're done drinking, you'll feel warm and comfortable. It's really a good wine." Grandpa Liu shook the wine jar with some regrets, "It's a pity there's not much left. Why not drink it all, so as not to keep thinking about it!"
Family, "…" You're just greedy, don't make excuses!
In the end, it was Liu Dalin who said, "Drink it, and when the wild grapes are ripe, we'll go pick some more and brew one again!"
Liu Yusheng nodded and raised her voice for the first time, "Yeah, brew! Make money!"
"…" The family fell quiet again, looked at each other, and at the same time felt their hearts aflutter.
"Sell it! Someone will buy it! Grandpa, dad and second uncle won't have to work hard!" The little baby didn't mean to joke.
"Uhm, this wine was just brewed by our family for fun, if we take it and sell it, would anyone buy it?" Earn money? To lighten the load of the three men in the family, Grandma Liu naturally likes the idea, she's just not too sure about it.
Where has there been an honest and hardworking farmer, who's been digging in the dirt all his life, ever done business?
Just the thought of it was making her panicked.
But the temptation is really great.
The old man was also a bit confused. They were drinking wine, why did the conversation suddenly shift to selling it for money?
Can they sell it? The wine did taste good, he is an old wine bug, but would others buy it?
"Nannan, do you remember how you made this jar of wine?" After a while, Liu Dalin asked squarely.
"Dad, Nannan remembers!" Liu Yusheng nodded, "With grapes, Nannan can still make it! I'm smart!"
Her childish enthusiasm made them laugh and it eased the shock that settled in the air all at once.
"Old man, what do you think?"