Best red wine to "serve" fruit flies?

[jubilant cerise]

There must be something in particular that fruit flies like in their red wine. I put out this blend (? as listed on the bottle: merlot, cabernet, gamay and pinot noir) and they wouldn't touch it. But they love zinfandel - and paid the price... Anyone else notice what kind of red wine fruit flies like best?

[ZenSojourner]

So glad to know I'm not the only one who traps fruit flies in this manner . . . .

[jubilant cerise]

I had heard about this for awhile and thought it was such a handy tip that I was kind of excited to try it out. So I was suprised that the wine I used didn't work and thought it must have something to do with the kind of wine.

Now that I know apple cider vinegar works too, it'll be a lot less costly for me to get rid of them. I don't have red in the house very often - my partner had a bad teenage experience with some and has sworn it off forever, lol!

[ZenSojourner]

What, you don't keep any around for cooking???

Quelle horreur! (Imagine an image of "The Scream" here)

LOL!

I pour a tiny amount into an empty bottle and set that out uncorked. A small amount seems to attract them just as well. Just enough to drown them - and they's itty bitty so it doesn't take that much, LOL!

I'm such a bad Buddhist! But perhaps it is their karma. They choose to give into the temptation of intoxicants and so endanger themselves, thus hurrying their transition on the Wheel of Life.

>:D

[sunshine842]

whatever funky old crap is in the bottle that you didn't finish the other night.

If it' starting to whiff a little, even better.

I put mine in a custard dish, covered it in plastic wrap, and popped several holes in it with a toothpick. Took a couple of days, but they were gone.

[penthouse pup]

Thirty years ago, I bought a bottle of Cote Rotie...and as I was about to open it (putting the bottle
up to light), what do I see within but a winged thing--not a fly, but more like a big fruit fly--Yes, I drank
the wine...and the creature probably enjoyed a last taste, as well.

[wew]

Please send to wine board. This will lift their spirits.

[jubilant cerise]

The plastic wrap is a very good tip, thanks! It helped a lot. :)

[James Cristinian]

I once had a fly do a merengue dance around the rim of a modestly priced chardonnay at a restaurant, and after completing the 360 degree journey he promptly fell in and died. The wine was quickly replaced.

[cheesemonger]

I use cheap white wine and cheap vinegar + 1 drop dish soap. Works beautifully. no need to fret, use whatever you have. I like to use white wine to revel over my catch. Maybe you can't see them in your reds?

[soupkitten]

i think they like cheap white wine better, too!

[jubilant cerise]

I tried the blended wine with soap and also without soap but they wouldn't fall for it. They definitely liked the zindfandel though, even without the soap!

[hummingbird]

I didn't know they were so picky. I use cider vinegar, and I know they also love beer. Sorry can't help you in the red wine department, but I'm sure others will pipe in soon. GL

[jubilant cerise]

Thanks for the tip on using vinegar, it worked really well!

[coll]

Cider vinegar is the man, I buy it by the gallon anyway. But if I have a glass with a little wine or beer in it leftover at the end of the night, then it gets a litttle shower cap too.