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Abby

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I am a relative newbie to wine making, as I only started last fall. Thus far, my wine making has been limited to kits.

This hobby, though, is becoming highly addictive. I started off with the bare minimum of equipment - one primary, one carboy, hydrometer, J tube, hose, wine thief, bottle filler and "butterfly" corker.

My first attempt at bottling, with the hand corker, combined with a stubborn cork, a slippery floor, and my own impatience wound up with a scene reminiscent of the three stooges. I would up going head first into a peg board (which fortunately was not damaged) and in a day or so, the dizzy spells went away.

I now have a floor model.

I acquired a second carboy so I could have two batches on the go. And now, a third one is looking pretty good.

And to think I used to do cross stitch.

Abby
 
Welcome. Glad you didn't have any Wine Making permanent injuries. What kind of kits have you made?

Smurfe :)
 
Welcome. Glad you didn't have any Wine Making permanent injuries. What kind of kits have you made?

Smurfe :)
Thanks for the welcome!

My first attempt was a very low end kit (I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a kit before I got the hang of it) Argentia Pinot Grigio. Due to a fortuitous accident (there seems to be a theme going on here) I managed to stretch a 4 week kit into 3 months. The end result was a "vin" that was pretty "ordinaire", but more drinkable than I thought it would be given the calibre of the kit. This was followed by a chianti of by the same company and again with reasonable results.

My wine making Guru did at one time impart these words of wisdom to me: "when it comes to wine kits, price does matter." And he is right. I am gradually working my way up to somewhat better kits: I have a Vinter's reserve Gewürztraminer that I plan to bottle in a month or so, and for summertime sipping an Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet. The next two projects I have lined up are a white zinfandel, and I have a 23 liter bucket of Spagnol's Italian Merlot sterilized must.

Brew shops are dangerous places these days. I seldom leave without sheaves of brochures, and my wish list is growing.
 
I am glad I do not have a local brew shop. It would make me crazy. I can stay patient and order "sanely." You picked some good kits to start with. I like when I see people start with a white low end kit. May start with a low end red and are disappointed. I made a Vintners Reserve Italian Pinot Grigio which was great. I made a Vintners Reserve Cab that was somewhat blah. I can recommend the Wine Expert Selection White Zin. It is fabulous they say. I can't keep it around. I don' drink it but everyone else does. I tend to gravitate toward Italian reds.
 
I am glad I do not have a local brew shop. It would make me crazy. I can stay patient and order "sanely."

I am in inveterate information gatherer and researcher, hence the sheaves of brochures. I sort of live in the styx, and there are two brewshops about 20 km from me but in different directions. So I get my brochures, take them home, read them over, take a peek on line to see what other people say about them and choose accordingly. I have been tempted to order online, but shipping costs would easily double the price of a kit in this neck of the woods. I will certainly check into the Wine Expert Selection White Zin.

Another friend of mine, also a wine maker, told me I would quite enjoy this because I cook and someone who cooks knows that certain things just can't be rushed.
 

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