Blueberry Wine

Where: Paw Paw, Michigan : The Midwest

I don't expect much from fruit wines. Usually, some chemically potent or harshly sweet flavor with an almost pleasant aroma is as good as you expect, but Blueberry Wine is more than merely drinkable: it's quite nice!

The aroma is subtle and the flavor, while hardly up the standards of red ines, has a touch of complexity and the sweetness isn't overpowering at all.

It's not exactly cheap, but compared to similar products, especially "blueberry flavored" ones, it's a pleasant little gem you won't see too often.

Cherry Wine

Where: Michigan, the Midwest

There's wine, and there's wine. This isn't the one you normally might drink, but cherries are cultivated widely in Michigan and they need to find something to do with them all, right? And what better way to preserve fruit than turn it into alcohol?

While the grape has been carefully cultivated for millenia to produce complex flavors, other fruit have not. This means that many "fruit wines"tend to be overpowering and obnoxious.

Cherry wine isn't entirely an exception. It is gravely lacking in complexity and the cherry flavor is very strong, making it tricky to accompany with anything more subtle than fast food. But it isn't too overpowering, and tastes refreshing, much like a Sauvignon Blanc, on a hotter day.

It may not ever make it into the world class of alcohols, but it's reasonably tasty, and a lot better than horrors like cherry vodka.