Shapu
Cherry and rhubarb are both powerful wine flavors on their own, which works really well for people like me who are not very subtle. What would happen if I combined the two? Would the flavors be too chaotic? Combining cherries and rhubarb in recipes isn't as popular as strawberry rhubarb, but I felt like it'd work anyway. Only one way to find out!
I started the first edition of this wine in 2020 and finally bottled it in the spring of 2021. Life got in the way and I didn't wind up giving it a name and a cool label until later that fall. I named this one Shapu, which means sharp in Japanese. Just like the flavors! I continued the Japanese theme through the imagery I used, which features a dekotora truck in full resplendent glory. If I were driving around a delivery of cherry rhubarb wine, this is the vehicle I would use.
Shapu clocks in at a standard 13% ABV. It ought to be an easy one to replicate down the road because our garden is full of rhubarb every spring and cherries are relatively easy to come by. I look forward to bringing this to gatherings for years to come!
