How good a wine can I reasonably expect?

[Cabroper]

What is a reasonable outcome for a diligent home red wine maker with good fruit to work with, by say the 3rd year of trying? Going for a big fruit-forward Cab.
(all caveats for 1 million variables included)

Pour most of it out
Barely drinkable
OK i guess, but not much to write home about
Barefoot
Decent table wine
Something you'd pay money for
Man, you made this yourself? Fantastic!

Maybe that's another way to think of it, what would a "comparable" bottle typically cost?

 

[shmel]

It all depends on how much effort you put in and a bit of luck. So far I had both extremes and all in-between. I had batches getting contaminated and had to dump down the drain. I had a particular batch of Riesling that was so good that the whole 5 gal got drank in a single bbq party. Most of the time, it turns out as something decent or better.

Just keep it out of the sun, check your temperature (low and slow tastes better that hot and fast) and proper sanitation are a few things that will have a big impact on the final result.

 

[olusteebus]

It all depends on how much effort you put in and a bit of luck. So far I had both extremes and all in-between. I had batches getting contaminated and had to dump down the drain. I had a particular batch of Riesling that was so good that the whole 5 gal got drank in a single bbq party. Most of the time, it turns out as something decent or better.

Just keep it out of the sun, check your temperature (low and slow tastes better that hot and fast) and proper sanitation are a few things that will have a big impact on the final result.

Please invite me to your next BBQ party. Any women's theree

 

[djrockinsteve]

I have been told by wine purchasing professionals among others that my wines are better if not as good as what is sold in the liquor stores and they were not referring to the cheap bottles.

With the right procedure and patience you can to. Good quality fruit can yield excellent wines. Poor quality or insufficient amounts will yield low to poor quality wines.

 

[Rocky]

Please invite me to your next BBQ party. Any women's theree

I was thinking the same thing! Twenty-five bottles of wine?!!! Was anyone left standing? Either it was a lot of people or a few camels.

Anyway, to the original question. You are in a great area (California) so if you start with good fruit and are patient and attentive, you will be very surprised at how great a wine you will make. I would say much closer to the "Man, you made this yourself? Fantastic!" level.

 

[Turock]

You will be surprised how good a wine you can make. Most of the time, it's about learning technique--such as in making fruit wines you learn not to use water. If you want a big Cab with fruit forward flavor you need some grapes along with the juice bucket. You need to learn how to choose yeasts for what you're working with--and how to do MLF's.

We made a Chianti from a juice bucket and we had sweet wine drinkers sampling it and saying that they couldn't believe they were drinking a dry wine. One person asked to have a bottle to take home to a friend so he could show him what a REAL Chianti tasted like!

I think this hobby yields such good results that it's worth it to stay at it. Maybe you just need more info--more experience. And maybe some good books. Check out www.morewine.com They have some very good books that will help you. And don't be afraid to ask questions and pick people's brains. Many of us enjoy helping the new winemakers.

 

[seth8530]

If you have good fruit, and your technique is good. You can make as good of a wine as any commercial winery could hope to make. The thing is that it takes time to master all the techniques to get to that level.

For instance, one of the areas of wine making that I am pretty new to is the whole barrel aging process. I do not have any barrels on hand, but I realize that this would be a positive direction to take my wine making into. So one of these days, I am going to have to break down and get myself a barrel and maybe mess up a bit the first time through. But, I will end up a better winemaker for it.

 

[Tom_S]

My wines turn out between decent table wine and outstanding. I've been told that my wine is equal to or better than store bought wine. Of course this is after having so many batches turn out bad to so-so and finally perfecting my techniques.