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[rgecaprock]

Once they get past the goo, and the slime and the stringy stuff they will be just fine.....then the fun begins carving the faces!!! I never thought of using gloves.


Happy Halloween!!!! Kids!!!!


Ramona

 

[PolishWineP]

Im related to him; and no i do not get paid.

Are you the fine looking young man admiring all the wine concentrates loaded into the vehicle?

 

[Venom]

Yes I am the one looking into the back of the car.

 

[dfwwino]

I'm curious to see how Delta's Lodi Gold fares for you. I know you said you liked that you don't have to crush and destem, and press, but it is actually a lot of fun to work with fresh grapes. Plus you can obviously afford a decent crusher/destemmer and press. Starting with fresh grapes gives you even more control over color, tannins, etc. You can do cold maceration, let fermentation go on the skins for a few weeks. And then you could take the pomace and use juice like Lodi Gold to make a second run. With the size of your operation, you could have a pallet of grape lugs shipped here to Dallas Farmer's Market. I'm looking forward to hearing about the outcome of your wine.

 

[texasermd]

I am looking forward to next season to get some actual grapes to work with. Since this was my first run, I decided to go with juice to minimize the number of issues I would have to deal with having only reading and research to guide me. Now that I have gone through many of the steps I have been thinking that I would love to be able to make decisions like maceration time, color extraction, enzyme use, etc.


I also think that it would be great to track down a good supply of grapes from close to home here in Texas so I will begin researching that avenue. I would think that most of the grape crop in Texas is under contract or used by the vineyard owner but I don't know. M&M can obviously supply grapes as well as juice. I am very interested in fortified wine and desert wine and fruit based wine as well. So many choices to spend one's time and money.


Cheers,


John

 

[dfwwino]

John,


I totally understand your desire to start with juice and get that first batch underway. I agree that most of the grape crop in Texas is already claimed. In fact, many Texas wineries obtain grapes out-of-state. It is very difficult to find local grapes of good quality for sale to amateur winemakers. There are a few vineyards that sell to amateur winemakers and the Texas Winegrowers yahoo group is a good place to find those vineyards. But in any given year, it is hit or miss. Or the grower is selling grapes that are underipe. I used to have a friend who owned an 8-acre vineyard near Southmayd and sold to amateur winemakers. Unfortunately, he tired of being a farmer and sold the vineyard. Last year,I joined a group of amateur winemakers who had a pallet of grape lugs shipped frozen from Tri Boro Fruit in California to a produce seller in Dallas Farmer's Market. I'd like to get a group together for another purchase next year. George sells and rentsgrape crushers/destemmers and presses.Edited by: dfwwino

 

[texasermd]

Mark me down as interested in that project!

 

[texasermd]

Also, I have a winery within 2 miles of me here in Frisco. They get their grapes from Texas only from what I've learned. There could be a possibility of adding on to their allotment, assuming the obvious such as availability of the crop, space on the truck and a desire to be involved in such a venture in the first place. Best case scenario, one could possibly only have to take home red must and white juice. They are only open on the weekends but I will stop in there sometime soon to inquire.

 

[bovinewines]

I'd be interested in signing on to that project as well!

 

[Venom]

if you go to http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modfr/26439701.htmlit tells you about what Wine Grape Varieties from Michigan is and other details about it.



















Johnathon

Edited by: Venom

 

[s.arkvinomaker]

In my search for fresh fruit I found S.E. Oklahoma had alot more to
offer. There is alot of orchards of varying kinds. There is also a juicing company around Lexington Okla off of I-35. Welcome to homewinemaking and the forum. You kind of jumped in with both feet. It is an adicting hobby.

 

[dfwwino]

John,
If you plan to make the same quantity you did this year with grapes, you might be able to persuade a Texas vineyard to sell you some quality grapes, especially if you combined your efforts with other interested local winemakers. If I counted correctly, you have about 100 gallons fermenting. It would take about 1500 lbs of grapes to produce the equivalent wine. Or you could order 42 lugs of grapes (36 lbs. each) from California. Tri Boro will ship a pallet of around 80 lugs to Dallas, and you can get several different varietals. I did a blend of Syrah and Carignan. The grapes cost me about $15 per lug and the shipping cost about $5 per lug.

 

[texasermd]

That sounds like a good plan. I actually have about 200 gallons going now. Cost wise, that would seem like a better deal than what I got for the juice. I figure that 80 lugs would net about 200 gallons of juice. I will have to look into this for next year.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Thanks for sharing your start to this addictive activity. (I could have
said hobby but you might be a little beyond that already!) This forum
has helped me to hear of other's ideas on this whole thing.



In your case though, it has helped my wife to see that I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO JUMPED IN WITH BOTH FEET!!! THANK YOU!



Mine started in March and I now have ten kits going, every one an interesting experiment.



Welcome to the forum!

 

[texasermd]

Well,it's been a long haul but I finally got all of the wine bottled. Over the last year and a half, I have kept most of the wine I started with and gave away quite a bit as well. I picked up an Enolmatic single head bottle filler and, in 8 hours, my son and I bottled about 500 bottles. They've been resting for about a month and I'm about to print the labels. I'll most some pics of the finished products when we finish. All in all, I have been pretty pleased with my first effort.

 

[ASAI]

Thanks for returning with a update. Definately, sounds like a major jump in with both feet project.

 

[Wade E]

Theres a name I havent seen in awhile! Glad all went well.

 

[texasermd]

Here's a pic of the Raspberry Port.
Only about 500 more bottles to go...

 

[Tom]

Nice Label. Did you make it up? Looks professional.

 

[Wade E]

Nice job TX!