Is there a forum for making wine from grapes you grow?

Just wondering. We went to a seminar and got boatloads of info including instructions for making wine from your OWN vineyard. We have the vineyard. Grapes are 5 years old. Refuse to buy grapes. We grow them. Is there a forum for grape growers? Whole different ballgame.

Is your question a serious question?

Every topic on this forum goes under the general heading of

Wine Making & Grape Growing Forum >

Click to expand...

One of the forums in particular is entitled:

Wine Making & Grape Growing Forum > Grape Growing / Vineyard Management / Commercial Winery > Grape Growing & Vineyard Forum

Click to expand...

So Paul, show me the pleasure of walking the vineyard. The smell, the joy, the "ooops" What is that? Are the tendrils healthy in spring? They should be. If not, what?

Hi DesertDance. How are you doing now days? Are the grapes still growing in containers or did you get some more land to set them in the ground?

We have 1.5 acres, and they are in ground, head trained. Steep slope.

Sounds great! You have some great varieties growing.

All heat lovers. Zinfandel, Alicante Bouchette, Mourvedre, Malbec, Cab Sauvignon, And some greek and spanish and argentine vines.

Hi DesertDance, good to hear from you again!

We will not buy grapes. The deal is to grow them. We have 3 year olds with clusters. I think we need to pinch, but that is tough.

At the seminar I asked, " Do you blend in the primary or after." Jury is out. Many opinions.

I've also thought about your original post in this thread. There is a forum entitled "Wine Making from Grapes" which fooled me a couple of times thinking it meant grapes as opposed to buckets, kits, juice, concentrate, etc. But what it means is grapes as opposed to watermelons, strawberries, gummybears, etc.

I am not an expert on wine making from grapes, but I would tend to lean towards blending after fermentation since it gives the winemaker more control over the flavor profile.

When you blend the fruit right from the start, it's called a field blend. I have a batch currently going that was done that way. I've been making muscadine and elderberry wine and blending them. The muscadines are a bit acidic and the elderberries lacking in acidity, so I'm trying a field blend without otherwise adjusting for acidity. We'll see.

As Seth pointed out, it's a bit of a shot in the dark, but I like to try and minimize the stuff I'm putting in my wine.