Weedy Wine

 Does wine need anything more added to it? Most purists would say no. Seltzer and ice are off the table Yet there are some vintners that are combining marijuana with various blends.Is it legal. Not quite. Is it delcious ? For some , yes.

Eric Asimov wrote about this in hi s weekly The Pour column in yesterday's New York Times Food section. He has tasted weed wine many times.. The first was when he was in college and th e wine drunk.It was delicious .It;'s colorwas a ruby red but had a tinge of orange. It reminded him of dorm rooms late at night. From then, he experienced it on both coasts and surprisingly in france where one would think it would be frowned upon.for decades winemakers with a taste for cannabis have made weed wine. The cannibis is added to the grapes as they ferment to achieve a doubly intoxicating sip.Mr. Asimov compares it to adding it to brownies ,an early form of edibles.The question is will those who  enjoy edibles switch over to this wine? It's hard to say. right now selling marijuana infused alcohol is illegal. It can be made and given as a private brew. 

Despite the fact that  recreational cannibis is legal in twnety two states , two territorities and Washington DC. and the medicinal kind in thirty-eight. it;s still illegal federally. The federal government prohibits the two being siold together while it;s OK to sell each separately.There are supposedly cannibus infused wines and beers but they 're in mae only . The drinks have been made with  dealcoholized liquid. It seems to be an open secret with older California wine makers who made it wen weed was illegal in the state. Bob Linquist of Qupe Wineries in Santa Barbara have been making it since the early Nineties.He says a lot fo people keep it under htier hat .It's secret,.You either know or you don;t. He learned from Bill Wathen of  Foxen Vinyards in Santa Barbara County. Mr. warhen has been fermenting cannibuis and grapes since the ealry 1970's as a student at California Polytechnic State University. he adds a pound to a 228 liter barrel. It's not powerful., calling it "liquid Valium."

Will weed wine catch on? Maybe.it's still a strange idea to mix the two.