Wine Making, etc

[Deemancpa]

Guys,

I have been a semi collector of wine for a number of years. Now, interested in wine making at home as a hobby and go from there. Any wine makers here? Has anyone sampled home made wine made from Grapes, not interested in any other fruit.


Gonna buy a kit and grape juice to start. I want to see if it is anything close to the wines out there.

D

 

[smokinghole]

Everything I have read about the kits are essentially good. You can make some very high quality wines I'm told that are ready fairly quick (six months) and some need three years or more like say a premium amarone kit.

 

[Deemancpa]

Thanks for the info. Just trying to decide if I should take the plunge. Don't want to invest in the equipment and the wine comes out like crap.

 

[smokinghole]

It's my understanding it makes good stuff as long as you follow the directions. I'm giving on a shot very soon. I figure if I can make 30 bottles of decent amarone for $120 I'm a happy dude. Considering a low priced bottle runs like $40 sounds like a win win for me.

 

[VillageIdiot]

For my first attempt, I bought 100% grape juice (one gallon), 1 1/2 cup of sugar (2 cups if you don't want it as dry), and 1 packet of Lalvin yeast. I think it was Lalvin D21 I used. I used a gallon plastic milk jug and a balloon for my first try. It turned out ok. Now I use fruit and sometime a little juice. It's a nice hobby.

 

[Deemancpa]

I'm looking to make a premium blend. Testing the waters, as I'm more interested in buying a vineyard one day.

 

[itsme_timd]

Not sure if you have anything like this near you but we have a store here called Wine Craft that let's you make wine on premise. I've never tried it but have checked the store out and they always have several jugs in there aging.

The website's not impressive but gives you an idea of what they do.
http://www.wine-craft.com

 

[smokinghole]

I'm looking to make a premium blend. Testing the waters, as I'm more interested in buying a vineyard one day.

I'd also like to make a premium blend. I think the best time is to find out when the premium kits are released for the year in order to get the freshest ingredients. Then you'll need carboys for fermentation obviously and a floor corker if you want to use corks. There is also the new trend which I'm sure you obviously know about with the screw top bottles. I wish I saved my screw top bottles to put wine in instead of the cork bottles. Oh well now I'll just buy a Portuguese floor corker that can do wine and beer in Belgian-style botttles/champagne bottles.