The idea to make wine jelly came from my love of wine and good food. I grew up in a household where homemade food meant family, comfort and hospitality. Guests who visited my childhood home knew to come hungry because my mother would offer them something to eat or drink as soon as they stepped through the front door.
My grandparents came to America from Italy and Poland in the early 1900s. Both of my grandmothers spent hours in the kitchen making traditional dishes from their homeland. I have such fond memories of my family gathered around a table talking, laughing and eating. So many of our family traditions centered around homemade food and wine. The memories of the aroma of Grandma Zelasko’s cookies or Grandma Fumi’s sauce and meatballs makes me feel like I am 10 years old again. Maybe that’s why I started cooking!
Grandpa Pompeo Fumi (or Frank as he was known after he came to the United States) had a wine cellar in his basement where he spent hours making his own wine. I'm not sure I ever actually saw the inside of the wine cellar because that was Grandpa’s domain and he was very selective about who walked on this sacred ground.
A family story that I often heard was that Grandpa always had 2 bottles of wine on the floor next to his chair. One (good) bottle for him, family and the visitors that he liked; the other bottle was for the visitors that… well, you get the picture.
I started making wine jelly in 2008 and really liked the flavor and how well the jelly complements other foods. I began to share my jelly with friends and family and was encouraged to start selling it. I have to give credit where credit is due. It was my sister, Lynette, who took some samples to work and sold out on the first day. In fact, she came home that day with more orders than I could fill! Since then we have been refining our recipes, setting up this website and preparing to offer homemade wine jelly to the general public.
Like Grandpa’s wine, our jellies are made the old fashioned way, in small batches and from our own handwritten recipes. We make sure that our jellies are of the finest quality. Every jar contains real wine and fresh, natural ingredients ensuring the bright and pure flavors that wine lovers adore.
We invite you to check out our Cook page where our friend Christa has created some fantastic recipes using our jellies. But don’t be afraid to try our jelly with peanut butter for a delicious treat or with roast beef and cream cheese for another of our favorite sandwiches.
We sincerely hope you like our creations and thank you for visiting our website.