Make your own wine

Anyone here make their own wine?

From juice or kits?

Pardon my ignorance as, in my mind's eye, I'd always thought this was a wino's way to make cheap bathtub wine. I've talked with a few folks at work that do so with local shops that'll do the winemaking for you (such as winexpert) and another that used to do the Costco wine kits.

I thought I'd test the waters with a batch of Pinot Gris & Noir at a local wine shop (where they can do all the work and I'll take the wine, thanks).

I do both wine from juice or kits. The end product from the juice is superior IMO. If I have to use a kit, I try to use one that you do not add water. Those end up better. If you can get your hands on grapes and mash them yourself to ferment them, it's even better.

Like a brisket, time is key here (go slowly, let it age for longer than what they recommend on the paper).

Also, you might have to channel your inner Mr. White, clean equipment is a must to ferment booze.

Greetings,

I started making wine this year. Mostly to restart a a tradition. Bathtub wine became common during prohibition when it was legal for families to produce wine for their consumption. As with any hobby (or obsession) you can do it quick and cheap of take it to a high level. I've had a lot of homemade wine that was not worth drinking and some that was truly excellent. The difference is mostly the quality of the ingredients, effort, and time. It you crush grapes, let them ferment with whatever yeast is on them, press and bottle you have wine. Most wineries add more steps and effort to ensure a quality product. My goal is to make something I will enjoy as much as a decent bottle I could buy and have fun with it. If I can make something comparable to $40/bottle for $7-10 I'll be thrilled. If I get a $10 that would be cool too.

I got started using whole grapes, from Chilie in May and from California in October and six gallons of Pinot Grigio from juice. The wine from juice is easier and requires a lot less equipment than whole fruit but whole fruit is more fun IMO. The fermentation and aging techniques are the same from the juice point. My friend makes some awesome wine from kits. There is a difference in the end product between cheaper and more expensive kits. As Luc said, time makes a huge difference in the end product so get started soon! The waiting is the hard part but tasting on the way is a lot of fun.

Tom

I've never done a true wine. I almost got into it, as I'm an avid beer brewer, but I've never had the space to age the bottles. If you live in the right area, some homebrew shops will sell fresh juice when its pressed. A shop in Cleveland did it when I lived there. They partnered with a vineyard to buy a bunch of juice. You would sign up for how much you wanted. When the vineyard pressed the grapes, they would come by the shop and fill your fermenters, or whatever you brought to take it home with as much as you signed up for.

I have done quite a bit of cider (from juice). Compared to brewing beer, cider is more akin to wine. Technique varies slightly, since I'm aiming at a hint of sweetness and carbonation and I don't need to age it. Like wine though, the key to cider is as cool a ferment as your yeast will tolerate. Wine yeasts can ferment fine down into the 60s. I switch between different ale yeasts and wine yeasts for doing cider. The only yeast to avoid shockingly enough is cider yeast. If you are looking for something to get your feet wet, cider might not be a bad way to go.

Wine from grapes ? Wow. That's a few steps further than I would have considered to take.

The missus has told me on a limit of hobbies that consume space and money for a while but the wine making experience looks like its quite a bit less of a commitment than beer Brewing.

SpikedLemon said:

The missus has told me on a limit of hobbies that consume space and money for a while but the wine making experience looks like its quite a bit less of a commitment than beer Brewing.

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Funny, that's exactly what my wife said when I wanted to get started. I pressed on and she's come around but was correct about the space and time so she's holding up my expansion into brewing (even though it's mostly the same equipment) The equipment is bulky and aging wine will take space for a while. Starting from juice will cut a lot of bulky equipment. Some grape dealers will crush and press the fresh grapes for you so you just take home the juice and some will rent the crushers and presses. On the other hand, you can find bargains on used equipment because folks don't want to store it. I need to work out some aging storage during the winter...



Tom

[MENTION=16399]eightysixCJ[/MENTION] You look like you're in quite a good place once all that wine matures.

Having a storage space for wine has always been something I wanted - and will soon become a necessity. I'll need to claim space in the basement for the bottles of the new wine and get onto building myself a wine rack or two.

I'm thinking of, however, sneaking out and ordering another batch of wine from Gamay grapes to have something quick, light and doesn't need much age. Maybe have it offset the first batch of wine by a week or two.

I've taken a couple departures from brewing to mess around with wine (and mead).

As mentioned, the quality of your wine is directly related to the quality of the grapes/juice/kit that you start with. You can be the most talented winemaker in the history of all mankind, but junk in still will result with junk out.

Nope. I am strictly a consumer. And I know my place!

I have a number of friends in the business here in Washington State.

The standard joke is that the way to make a small fortune is to, "Start with a large fortune and go into the wine business!"

BigJ said:

Nope. I am strictly a consumer. And I know my place!

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Ha!

I'm definitely a consumer...

Disclaimer: I've never made wine but I have made tons of beer.

The two unexpected things for me getting in to beer brewing, which I am guessing also apply to wine:

1. Sanitation is even more key than even the dire warnings you see on brewing sites implies. Pay a whole lot of attention to it. It's very, very easy to end up with off flavors in a batch.
2. You will make a huge mess. It's only a matter of time. It might not be the first batch, but it WILL happen. You should not worry about this or be hard on yourself when it happens, just be aware of it.

After reading this I think I might to make wine next summer. Being in Washington state lots of grapes readily available. I might even try to my hand at vinegar too. Should make nice Christmas gifts.
[MENTION=94606]BigJ[/MENTION] do you know anyone that uses blackberries to make wine. I am thinking we have all those "nuisance" berries why not put them to use.

*Terence* said:

do you know anyone that uses blackberries to make wine. I am thinking we have all those "nuisance" berries why not put them to use.

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I haven't made blackberry wine yet but have enjoyed some. Fruit wine can be excellent and will be ready to enjoy much sooner. Same process and priorities.

Tom

*Terence* said:

After reading this I think I might to make wine next summer. Being in Washington state lots of grapes readily available. I might even try to my hand at vinegar too. Should make nice Christmas gifts.
@BigJ do you know anyone that uses blackberries to make wine. I am thinking we have all those "nuisance" berries why not put them to use.

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No. I do not know anyone who makes wine from anything but grapes. Sorry.

Just popped into this forum and reading the posts, so ya, i have made wine from kits, grapes and picked my own grapes. Grapes we as a group had a container flown in within 24 hrs of picking, crushed and proceeded to make cabernet. The biggest issue with wine is aging. So you make 5 gals, bottle it, and let it sit, and then start all over, it can be years until you really should drink it, but end up trying it early. So having 20 cases of wine that i shouldnt drink yet was too much to handle. So then i just went and reviewed great wines and try to get at decent prices. Worked out, dont drink as much anymore , in florida and finding it harder to drink reds.

Or, you know... you could just do this....

pault said:

The biggest issue with wine is aging. So you make 5 gals, bottle it, and let it sit, and then start all over, it can be years until you really should drink it, but end up trying it early.

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Yep! Trying let it age and build some stock while my wife is asking when we can stop buying wine...

Are you shifting to whites?

Tom

I make red, white and fruit wines. They all follow the same basic principal, get juice, add juice and ferment. Or get fruit (including grapes) crush and/or steep them to extract the juice, flavors and colors of the fruit, then ferment them. Not sure if you've started a batch of anything but September is a great time to get wine juice and or grapes from Cali. In October you get stuff from Italy.

If you want to make blackberry wine you'll need about 3 lbs fresh or frozen fruit, sugar, yeast, yeast nutrient, pectic enyzme and probably some tannin, all available online or from your local brew shop.

PM if you'd like additional information.

-LJ

eightysixCJ said:

Yep! Trying let it age and build some stock while my wife is asking when we can stop buying wine...

Are you shifting to whites?

Tom

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Na, only white i drink is champagne. Losing a lot of weight, dropping beer, shifting to whiskey and ginger, ill have a bottle of red occasionally to finish off the 25 or so left, some with 10-15 yrs on them

Personally I'm not a wine guy. I've made some from concentrated kits and tried one batch from local grapes that were given to me. Needless to say I preferred the grape to glass experience more, but I still prefer to stick to hillbilly winemaking and meads. I'll make maybe thirty gallons of wine each year, twenty of which is Mead from local honey. Then I'll make small batches of elderberry, pear, and blueberry as well. Elderberry is definitely the most prominent here in Kentucky. My good friend, much more of a winemaker than I, will make four fifty gallon batches each year in fifty gallon hdpe barrels (former syrup barrels I believe) and choose his favorite to mix with pear in a bourbon barrel to age. It's certainly not for everyone, but he turns out a sweet nuanced wine year after year, with yeast, sugar, and water being his only recurring investment. The nearly immediate payoff of brewing ales is much more my speed, though.