Affordable grapes in the southeast?

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jbo_c

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Anybody found an affordable way to source vinifera grapes in the Southeast(Atlanta area)? I just can’t find a way to make it equitable. By the time shipping is added, grapes(frozen) are quadruple the cost of even premium kits.

I could maybe get myself to pay double, but quadruple really offends my cheap side. Even if I stretched it by making a second run it would be double or more and the second run would be inferior(though, probably still better than a kit in many ways).

Anybody found a solution down here?

Jbo
 
I'm planning to order from Colavita next season. Probably do a pallet full which is a bunch and I'll need to get a larger tank for bulk aging and a crusher/de-stemmer. I'll use my small press for now. The cost goes down quite a bit in these quantities.

https://www.cawinegrapes.com/

Cheers,
johann
 
Haha. Wish I had space for a pallet. I have debated doing a drum, but even that is asking a lot of my space. :)

I guess I’m hoping to get into a group buy or have someone tell me there’s a distributor with a cold storage within an hour or two where I could pick some up “direct”.

Or even maybe one of the vineyards locally will sell grapes to home winemakers. I have done that before but that guy has moved on and haven’t had any luck from others locally.

Jbo
 
I live in Nashville but used to live in ATL. There are a couple wineries in the area. One just up I85 north of ATL.

Cheers,
johann
 
Anybody found an affordable way to source vinifera grapes in the Southeast(Atlanta area)? I just can’t find a way to make it equitable. By the time shipping is added, grapes(frozen) are quadruple the cost of even premium kits.

I could maybe get myself to pay double, but quadruple really offends my cheap side. Even if I stretched it by making a second run it would be double or more and the second run would be inferior(though, probably still better than a kit in many ways).

Anybody found a solution down here?

Jbo
Have you looked at the Purple Foot Wine Club? I''m not a member, but I believe that they have done group buys before.
 
Tatmia's idea is a great one. Last fall I connected with a group in the Raleigh/Durham area of NC. We do a group buy and get good rates on west coast grapes. This fall we collectively purchased 6+ tons, which makes a big difference.
 
Have you looked at the Purple Foot Wine Club? I''m not a member, but I believe that they have done group buys before.
* clubs make it very affordable by getting to truckload quantities. The quality isn’t controlled ex 2 years back the club made wine which has weird mold notes.
* a 100,000 population city or larger has a fruit distributor who can order in and you should get grocery chain pallet price.
* local retail produce managers can order in for you and you should get case pricing.
* looking at the New York production areas I have seen prices ex $400 per ton for concord (natives) or $900 per ton northern hybrids. The farmer doesn’t get much in the scheme of things.
 
I’ve tried emailing Colavita multiple times and no success. I’ll try some more.

thanks for the response.

Jbo
 
I’ve tried emailing Colavita multiple times and no success. I’ll try some more.

thanks for the response.

Jbo
IIRC, had a similar problem years back, so I called. They have some overzealous spam filter that’s hard to get past, they added me to the OK list and all has been fine since. Give them a call, nice folks.
 

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