Thank you for the well wishes. The distant family were by no means commercial, everything was made for personal use, trade and for neighbors. From researching the stacks of diaries and stories my grandmother and great uncle kept, the best I can come up with is a Madeira wine that made. We are having a hard time finding out which variety of grape was brought overland, but Portugal has shown up in the diaries. On top of that, grandmother told me of a time my uncle was fortifying his wines with an old Still. The cooling coil is all that remains, he sold the rest to a neighbor (such a bummer).
We do have a few bottles in the cellar that look to have separated, is there a way to test for the variety of grapes used? Or even to be able to pull a yeast sample?
However the research plays out, the history prior to our Distillery will make for a great tale.
Matt