Reality

[chris889671]

Hi everyone, its been a busy season. I got enough grapes for 1 batch of jam. bad year for fruit in Michigan. good year for new vines. so nothing fermenting. I've noticed a lot more wine shows on PBS, I'm usually glued to them. If you haven't heard, wine is booming now. The show that caught my attention was a winemaker reality show. Has anyone seen this, what is your take on this. good for business or does it cheapen wine industry

 

[Tom_S]

I haven't heard of a show about wine makers, but a while back there was one about moonshiners. I personally wouldn't want a bunch of cameras following me around while doing something illegal, but that's just me.

 

[tingo]

I am very disappointed in that show. These lucky few have the opportunity of a life time and the competitions are dumb such as designing labels??? I would give my left arm for a winery and i study and work hard on perfecting my technique and they can acquire a winery through design and dumb luck. Very sad.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Tom, I agree, it leads me to believe that the moonshine show is staged...lets face it, how long can the fire chief have his face plastered all over TV making illegal moonshine before someone scratches their head and says..."hmmmm...sure looks a lot like skeeter in them woods"...
You know that if the ATF was to be made to look like idiots on national TV portraying them as guys who can't find a moonshiner, they would have had that TV crew questioned and possibly charged as an accomplice (a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense) or Aiding and Abetting ( A person charged with aiding and abetting or accessory is usually not present when the crime itself is committed, but he or she has knowledge of the crime before or after the fact).
The federal government doesn't take well to criminals flaunting their crimes.

 

[Tom_S]

What??? A reality TV show that isn't really true? How could that happen?

 

[andy123]

"The federal government doesn't take well to criminals flaunting their crimes". I agree............. There has been a glut on grapes for several years. The government took on the task of promoting vineyards and winery's but never saw fit to bring the wine to the American table. So many feel uneducated about wine that they just have a cocktail and move on. 2 buck Chuck showed up in Napa valley years ago and rocked the industry. I had to visit my Burbank brother after that announcement.And since then fine vineyards of France and California have felt pressures from Australia, Chile and Argentina and new kids like Tennessee. Sometimes I find nice wines for $5 and 7 dollars at the store. On the one hand progress is great but on the other when I hear of French wines being cooked for gasohol I feel there is a great disturbance in the force. All in all I think knowing there is an abundance of nice wines available is preferred to the opposite.

 

[Bartman]

When I asked how business was going since they expanded to a larger facility, George at FVW mentioned that the wine kit business has been flat to down a little in the last 1-2 years, but that the beer-making side of the business keeps getting better. Since he started ~2004, he pointed out that commercial wine prices have dropped as much as 40% but wine kits and equipment are up about 18%, so it's not quite as great a bargain to make your own wine (if memory serves on those numbers). For the heavy drinkers, I suppose that's the main issue, but I think for most of us here, the challenge and adventure of making and perfecting your wine is where the value lay.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Even with the expensive kits my wine is much cheaper than an equal quality commercial wine. However that's not why I make my own wine. I like the challenge of it and when you drink something you made that rivals or even outdoes a commercial wine there is a lot of satisfaction in it. Especially when your friends and family agree.

I think the beer being more popular is more a product of the quality and quantity of some of the microbrew and craft beers that are around these days. People see what you can achieve with good quality ingredients and a good idea. I also think beer has a quicker turn around time to a finished product for those of us with a bit of ADHD