Ginger Champagne, a tart, sharp but subtle wine is something I started when I moved into a place larger than a shoebox. It started with the following recipe, but after almost a year of aging, I'm sampling the finished product and evaluating how it should change. I'll list changes after the recipe:

Note, this might change if I realize I'm remembering this all wrong.

And it is excellent -- but not perfect. Changes I'd make (based on personal taste):
1.5 tbl vanilla extract.
5 lemons. It needs to be sharper and less "earthy."

First, bring the water to a boil. Add sugar and ginger and let it roll for 30 minutes to an hour. Turn the heat off, squeeze out the lemons, add the vanilla, and let sit covered until cool before adding to the carboy, along with the yeast (trick: instead of using a whole pack of yeast, use 1/4th of the pack in 2 cups of your cooked-up mixture after it's cooled for 20 minutes, let sit for two hours, then add that to the carboy with the remainder. Funny thing about microorganisms -- the reproduce quickly when it's warm)

I let it ferment as a large mush for a while, and racked after about 5 months. It was probably ready for bottling after only one or two more, though I let it set for another 4. Once it's getting bottled, drop a half a tsp of sugar and a "yeast bb" into the bottle. Cap it off, tie it down and wait for it to bubble.