Another year has slipped away and again we find ourselves in the blurry afterglow of
St John the Babtist Day. And of course that must also mean another batch of
Nocino is underway and that certainly is true too.
As I did last year, I padded down to the local walnut grove with my trusty pole saw and pilfered a sack full of about seventy green walnuts.
I dutifully chopped them into quarters...
 |
| Okay, this one is halved, but you get the idea - they're cut in quarters... |
And I stuffed them into jars...
So, now we wait. I'll add the sugar today and the alcohol tomorrow. I'm using an organic light brown sugar this year, but I still haven't decided what to do about the alcohol. As of July 1,
Maryland banned the sale of 190 proof neutral grain spirits, so I'm in a bit of a quandary. I have to decide whether to drive into
the Distrik to procure
the good stuff or settle for a lower alcohol level using
grappa or
wodka.
This year I'm thinking of adding lemon zest and maybe vanilla. I've also been thinking of aging the Nocino in
wooden casks. The native
black walnuts are certainly more astringent than the more common English walnuts (
Juglans regia) and I think a year in oak might help to soften the Nocino a bit. I've also considered reducing the initial soak time. At a minimum I hope to come out with two batches of Nocino. Check back in a year and I'll let you know how it went.
