Fine Vine Wines Closing Their Doors

[bstnh1]

If you take a look at the wine thread Tweaking Cheap Wine Kits.
On this forum , it has a strong following.
If you look for the same subject on Google it's usually near the top.that shows me that there is a need for affordable kits for the beginner and
For a decent everyday wine.
Even the moderate priced kits with help can make a good finished product, but you have to work at it.

I don't really think the overall cost of a kit is a deciding factor as to why some people don't take up the hobby. No matter how you look at it, you can make your own good quality wine for less than you can buy it at the store. I think it's more that people today want instant gratification. And sitting around waiting for a kit wine to finish and then aging it for months or years is just too much.

 

[Stressbaby]

Google Trends offers some insight. Strongly suggests that a drop off in interest dates back more than one year - more like 10+ years.

Shown below is 5 year data on Google searches for "wine kit," and "winemaking," and one other related search (can't recall, I didn't label it, but it is the top graph). It doesn't take the addition of a trend line (dotted) to see that the 5-year trend is down. In fact, the trend has been downward for the past 14 years. Contrast that with searches for "wine" where pretty clearly the trend for the past 10 years is up.

But blaming this on lazy millennials is unfair. It could just as easily be lazy baby boomers. And as attractive as the "instant gratification" theory might be, it strikes me as too simplistic. There are alternative hypotheses. For example, maybe the price, variety, quality, and consistency of commercial wines has improved, essentially increasing the "delta" between what one can afford and what one could make. In that case, the rational value judgment will be to buy rather than make. That's not lazy, that's smart.

 

[Boatboy24]

But blaming this on lazy millennials is unfair. It could just as easily be lazy baby boomers. And as attractive as the "instant gratification" theory might be, it strikes me as too simplistic. There are alternative hypotheses. For example, maybe the price, variety, quality, and consistency of commercial wines has improved, essentially increasing the "delta" between what one can afford and what one could make. In that case, the rational value judgment will be to buy rather than make. That's not lazy, that's smart.

Likely a combination of all these things. Boomers are retiring and perhaps no longer making wine as a hobby or to supply the family. Changes/improvements in what is available commercially create less of a desire to make wine for one's self. As a result, the next generation isn't taking the reins (except @Ajmassa5983 )

 

[TXWineDuo]

We will definitely miss George too, he was very helpful over the past 5 years with our winemaking endeavor. He was instrumental in getting us into making wine from fresh California grapes and like some of y'all up in the Northeast we too have lost are only source of grapes. We hope that someone or group will pick up the tradition of providing fresh grapes for us North Texas home winemakers.

TXWineDuo

 

[heatherd]

I posted this under another thread but wanted to also share here:

Musto has Mosti http://www.juicegrape.com/categories/Winemaking_Kits They have Mosti kits and the big grape pack, and Meglioli kits. I get a lot of my supplies from them, too. They have some kits I haven't tried yet like Village Vintner.

Morewine has cellarcraft, rjs, winexpert and everything other than Mosti: https://morewinemaking.com/category/cellar-craft-wine-kits.html?page=all

I also buy lots of stuff from Midwest supplies: https://www.midwestsupplies.com/wine-recipe-kits

Keystone has WE and RJS: http://www.keystonehomebrew.com/shop/wine/ingredient-kits.html Their en premeur w/skins are $150-170 and they have 255 kits.

For fresh grapes and juice, I have made the shift to frozen when I can't get stuff in season.

Winegrapes Direct has some tempting stuff anywhere from $135 - $250 for 5 gallons of white juice or red must. http://winegrapesdirect.com/

Presque Isle ships fresh Australian juice: https://www.piwine.com/order-australian-juice-for-wine-making.html

Brehm is also a good source of frozen must: https://www.brehmvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BV-Current_Inventory.pdf

Keystone has frozen must from Vino Superiori: http://www.keystonehomebrew.com/vino-superiore/