Fruity Florida Wine

Filed in archive Wine Making on May 7, 2007

How cool is this and what a great idea? So many people with lots of fruit trees down here just can't manage to get all the fruit picked before it goes bad. Even then, once you pick it, if you aren't a commercial operation, you have a heck of a lot of fruit to eat.

It's not uncommon, in fact, if you have friends with fruit trees in their yards that you are required to take home a bag of it whenever you visit.

One couple, though, came up with a great way to use their fruit by turning into wine. Even better, they have some really unusual fruits, which you only see in very southern climates.

From Couple Touts 'Agrotourism' With Tropical Wine:

Instead of using grapes, Peter and Denisse Schnebly are embracing Florida's agricultural strengths by making wine from fruits such as carambola and lychee that won't grow in cooler climates.

The Schneblys started selling their wine in 2005 to cut the waste from their tropical fruit orchards. They now farm about 100 acres in the Redland area west of Homestead.

Of course, in typical newspaper fashion, they didn't include a link to this winery's site, but hey, that's what you have me for. I found them at www.schneblywinery.com, where you can find out more about them and their very unusual fruit wine, including mango, guava, passion fruit, and more:

The Schnebly Redland's Winery team is a constantly growing and hard working family of good people. The owners Peter and Denisse Schnebly [...] have been living and working in South Florida for over 25 years. They are dedicated to improving South Florida and especially the Redland's area. Our retail manager, Bridget Bechelmayr handles overall management of the winery's store, including wine tastings and tours.