N/V Glunz Family May Wine

The Glunz Family Winery (http://www.gfwc.com/) is located in the northern Illinois town Grayslake (near Gurnee, home of Six Flags). The winery has a strange setup as it's located in an industrial/office building area. It's one part of a building and I assume is surrounded by offices...I believe there's a paint company, a surveying company, a masonry, a model company, a vet supply company and a bricklaying business in the same building. That's not a criticism, but the odds are you'll drive right by the building a few times before realizing that's where it is.

Glunz specializes in fortified wines, they have a few vintages of Port available (a review of one will be up soon), a framboise style raspberry wine, plus some typical wine (Chardonnay and Merlot), and some specialty ethnic wine (Sangria, Glogg and May Wine).



May Wine is a sweet white wine infused with woodruff. What is woodruff, you ask? It's an herb native to Germany. As you may have guessed May Wine is a typical German drink which is normally consumed on May Day (aka International Workers' Day aka more or less Labor Day for the rest of the world with a bit more politics mixed in).

I've never had May Wine before so I have no idea what to compare this to. It's sweet, doesn't have much acidity, and it has a strange floral scent and taste. It's certainly unique. Fran tastes cinnamon and nutmeg, which I can see but there's something else that's going on that is clearly strange.

It comes in a one liter bottle for about $10. I find this wine to be ultimately be a bit strange, definitely different, and quite honestly not something I terribly like but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's an authentic recipe. If you know May Wine and like it, picking up a bottle may not be a half bad idea.

The verdict? I'm glad I had it, if I encounter May Wine somewhere else I'll give it a shot, but I certainly wouldn't ask for a full glass. If you've got a bunch of people, it may be a worthwhile summer drink but with only two of us, I see most of this bottle going down the drain.