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The incredible flower wines of West Oakland’s Aaliyah Nitoto – The Mercury News

July 20, 2021 by Wine

In a 300-square-foot shipping container in West Oakland, Aaliyah Nitoto is making fragrant, stylish, unforgettable glass of wines from blossoms. Adhering to in the old practices of female yard winemakers, Nitoto’s red wines are completely dry, complex as well as aged expressions of lavender, marigold as well as hibiscus. And their quality is shocking the white wine globe.

Nitoto, a health and nutrition teacher for Healthy and balanced Black Family Members Inc., a Berkeley nonprofit, involved flower winemaking after years of working as an herbalist as well as studying the effective homes of blossoms. Along with her companion Sam Prestianni, she launched Free Variety Flower Winery in 2018 with 15 situations of small-batch, hand-crafted wines. Production is expected to strike 1,000 by year’s end, and also double by 2022.

Till after that, preorder now to score Nitoto’s white wines, which offer out rapidly. Her newest, a crisp, highly-drinkable rosé made from the flowers of the pineapple guava plant, will make a dash when it debuts in September to red wine club members (she just made six gallons). In the East Bay, you can also discover the white wines at Oakland’s Alamar Kitchen area & & Bar, Site, Agave Uptown, Alkali Rye and also Piedmont Grocery Store. They are likewise offered at the Total White wine & & More stores at Almaden Cattle ranch as well as Stevens Creek in San Jose.

We lately talked to Nitoto concerning the procedure, background and capacity of flower wine making. Below are her words.

Q: How are flower glass of wines made?

A: The process isn’t a secret. What I do is boil water and also transform it off and also pour on dried out blossoms. Type of like making a tea. The other way you can do it is by taking fresh blossoms and macerating them as well as pouring cold water on them. There is a sugar source, for the alcohol web content, as well as yeast. Depending upon the red wine there is additionally a little citrus. The initial fermentation is about 2 weeks and also the wine can rest for four to six months in stainless-steel before entering into the container.

Free Array Flower Vineyard produces, from left, Marigold red wine, Lavender sparkling wine, as well as Red Hybiscus red wine. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

Q: Where do you source your blossoms?

A: My blossoms are sourced in your area and also organically, with the exception of the feijoa, which I utilize to make my brand-new new pink wine. I wildcrafted that myself. It expands in Oakland and also Berkeley, so I went to my pal’s garden as well as selected the blossoms myself. Fresh flowers are tough to get a hold of due to the fact that there aren’t numerous farms that mass produce them in the quantities I would need. Nobody thinks about them this way.

Q : Why isn’t flower winemaking extra prevalent? Can you inform us concerning the history?

A: Blossom glass of wines have been created as long as or maybe even longer than grape wine. Considering the background, which is sporadic, component of the reason is because they were mainly created the house by ladies, center and lower-class females, that didn’t very own systems of land as well as had no power to determine what was preferred red wine. Yet the practices are ancient. China’s chrysanthemum red wine dates back to the Han empire. Dandelion red wine has always been made in Northern Europe as well as the British Isles. And I just recently uncovered a Japanese wine made from cherry blossom and cherry timber bark. These white wines are not unusual, they are just relegated into the back woods.

Q: Feijoa, your most recent white wine and also first rosé, is influenced by Woman Gaga. Can you explain?

About a year ago I did an interview with I Such as this Grape and also among the inquiries they asked was what sort of red wine I would craft for sure stars. One of them was Woman Gaga. I considered her as this fantastic as well as out of hand, in your face but still really feminine and also herself woman. So I chose the pineapple guava blossom for her and also it grew the seed in my mind.

Aaliyah Nitoto, the owner and winemaker of Oakland’s Free Range Blossom Winery, absorbs the arrangement of her Red Hybiscus red wine. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Team)

Q: Finally, what is your objective as a wine maker?

A: I want to make these white wines common. I want individuals to know about these white wines. If you consider the thousands of edible flowers that there remain in the globe as well as all of the recipes I have actually discovered in my research, the opportunities are limitless.


4 flower wines

Much like grapes, flowers have aromatic compounds, complicated flavors and yield strong and jewel-like shades. Below are the 4 in Free Variety Flower Winery’s portfolio. The red wines range in alcohol from 12 to 14 percent by volume and also begin at $23; www.freerangeflowerwinery.com

Marigold: Golden in shade with medium body, like fluid sun. Scents of honey with a little brininess. Similar to an aged chardonnay. Matching: Baked fish or hen in a creamy sauce.

L (Lavender): Depending upon the blossom great deal and also how long the a glass of wine has actually aged, this gently bubbly, slightly pleasant sipper can vary in color from gold to blush pink. It has assertive flower fragrances and also tastes of citrus and anise. It’s begging for a flute as well as breakfast. Pairing: Waffles with berries.

RoseHybiscus: Pinot, satisfy your suit. This bright, ruby-hued wine is light in body with silky tannins, fragrances of sandalwood as well as white pepper as well as tons of fruit, particularly raspberry. Coupling: Cheese and also charcuterie.

Feijoa: Made from the blossom of the pineapple guava plant, this completely dry pink a glass of wine is evocative conventional rosé, with fragrances as well as tastes of watermelon and also strawberry. Combining: Sushi, french fries.


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