Grape Expectations

When we first moved to this house 40 years ago, I spent the first year making endless jars of grape jelly. This year, much to my surprise, I discovered that even this late in the season, there were many bunches of healthy looking grapes still growing around our fence and gate. I haven't paid attention to our grape growth in years! Since we are enjoying record warmth at the moment, I spent the morning harvesting them.

Is it time to dig out the food mill and Mason jars and make another batch of grape jelly or jam? Or maybe stomp on them and make wine? I wonder if they'd be suited to ice wine - probably not, and the few times I've tried ice-wines, they have seemed rather cloyingly sweet. Or how about a grape pie? I'm not sure if I've ever tasted one before. Here's the recipe for one that apparently won a prize at the Colorado State Fair in 2009:

https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/grape-pie/26cc4404-9684-41ee-b169-8d3996b94063

Of course, my partner is a great one for pouring cold water all over my ambitions by asking "Are they even edible? We've had a couple of frosts already, you know!"

I think I may have lost a barrette outside while picking grapes, so maybe that was an omen in itself. Still, I'd hate for our grapes to meet the same fate as the ones at this vineyard:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/canada-wine-theft-intl-scli/index.html

There's a story there, I've no doubt!