🍓🍷 STRAWBERRY RHUBARB WINE — Oh My!…
Did You Know That Not All Wines Come from Grapes?
July 19th marks Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day, a quirky modern food holiday that invites us to raise a glass to the wide and delicious world of fruit wines — wines made from fermented berries, tree fruit, or even kitchen garden crops like rhubarb.
Fruit wines have deep roots in American food culture, especially in the South and in rural communities where homemade wine was as common as canned jam. Long before modern bottling or commercial wineries, making fruit wine at home was a seasonal ritual — one that called for time, patience, and whatever fruits were in season, abundant, accessible and ripe.
For Black Americans, these traditions were passed down alongside remedies, preserves, and other kitchen craft. Which is why this date always brings to mind the beloved cookbook and cultural heirloom Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine (pictured above) — a stunning blend of stories and recipes that preserve Black family traditions across generations. Written by the legendary Darden sisters, Norma Jean and Carole, it remains a must-have on many kitchen shelves (including mine).
✨ Bonus nugget: I had the honor of interviewing Norma Jean Dardenback in 2005 for the Southern Foodways Alliance’s SFA Founders Oral History Project — and I’ll be sharing some never-before-heard reflections and behind-the-scenes moments from that conversation exclusively with my Patreon peeps…
🟥🍷 PS: Strawberry Rhubarb Wine is part of the Red Drink conversation!
This bright, crimson-hued beverage — made from naturally red fruits (and veg! rhubarb, duh…) long loved in Black kitchens and gardens — is a seasonally appropriate addition to the lineup of sweet, tangy Red Drinks traditionally served during Juneteenth and throughout Freedom Season. From hibiscus to cherry , strawberry and watermelon sodas (spiked or not!), Red Drinks are much more than refreshment — they’re about remembrance, resistance, and joyful ritual.
Meanwhile, strawberry rhubarb wine itself — tart, sweet, and vibrant — is still crafted by small wineries and featured at harvest festivals across the country. But the full story of fruit wines goes way, way deeper:
🍷✨ Full disclosure I originally wrote the entry about the long, global history of fruit wines for the Encyclopedia of Food & Drink in America — I’ll be share highlights (and a few updates!) on that too over on my Patreon.— so subscribe to get the deeper pour…
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Til Then:
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