SO, How did you get into this? What's the Story?

[JohnT]

OK,

So I do not remember ever seeing anything on exactly what brought you folks into the great obsession of winemaking. I am sure that there are some really good stories out there...

I'll go first..

I got into winemaking through birth. I come from some 10 generations of winemakers in Hungary. My father's was the last generation to actually work the Hungarian vinyard (in the Balaton region).

When the communists took power, all of my family's possessions and holdings were taken. Can you imagine that? Everything that you own simply taken from you for no reason. My family was lucky enough to have ONE relative that was a party member and he managed to claim the vinyard back from those commie devils. Well, at least the vinyard is still in the family. I have visited it many times.

I ended getting into winemaking due mostly to my father. I would listen for hours to his stories about wine and winemaking. When a friend of my (30 years ago) said that he belonged to a group that makes wine, I jumped at the chance to join in.

I learned winemaking in stages.

Stage 1 - Listen to the old timers tell how they used to make wine.

Stage 2 - learn and study under an actual chemist (to unlearn a lot of what the old timers taught me).

Stage 3 - learning by doing (and correcting mistakes)

When I started up my own small "facility", my father almost plotzed!

The rest of the story is the typical "Obsession Run Amuk".

 

[1ChuckGauthier]

I built a house on a piece of ground, 3 acres and one fall we had a huge crop of wild huckleberries, red, blue and black. After eating a ton of them I began to wonder what I could do with them.........crazy idea.........wine maybe, found jack keller and receipi and had at it. With the help of this forum I have improved my skills and at the moment, have strawberry, blackberry, rasberri, and red huckleberrie/thimble berry in seconday ageing. Hope to experiment a bit this year, 1st with chocolate in strawberri

 

[KenS]

OK,


I learned winemaking in stages.

Stage 1 - Listen to the old timers tell how they used to make wine.

Stage 2 - learn and study under an actual chemist (to unlearn a lot of what the old timers taught me).

Stage 3 - learning by doing (and correcting mistakes)

When I started up my own small "facility", my father almost plotzed!

The rest of the story is the typical "Obsession Run Amuk".

That is a great story, and I especially like the last line

Mine is much shorter and simpler: my lovely bride got me a beginner setup for Christmas this past year, simply because I had mentioned it a few times over the years. She figured it would be a novelty hobby for me. At this stage, 3 months later, I'm sure she would agree with the phrase "Obsession Run Amuk" ... and I'm just getting started!

 

[fivebk]

My winemaking started in 2008. After becoming disabled from a work related accident. Sitting around the house doing nothing will drive you bonkers. The wife and I both love wine so I said to her one day......I think I'll make some wine!!! She kind of looked at me funny and said.... you say what!!!! Well been making wine ever since. Some 36 different batches to date. I even have some vines planted..... If you want look at my thread under vineyards ( Kennell Estates Vineyard & Winery) it pretty much explains what I've been through on this ongoing winemaking adventure. I truely enjoy making and drinking my own wines!!!!

BOB

 

[Scott]

A yard full of dandelions and a fond memory of dandelion wine was the beginning of the obsession!! Also a nice wife to let me take over a room

 

[Runningwolf]

John T this is an excellent thread you started (you're always starting something, LOL)

I was at my nephews and he had made some blackberry wine that was rather high in alcohol but tasted awesome! I did some research on the internet and visited my local supply house. My first two wine's were an Island Mist Blackberry and an Australian Riesling. Needless to say I got hooked way too fast.

 

[jswordy]

I was a working man's beer drinker (Bud Light) until I found out I am gluten sensitive. I have cut out all gluten in my diet including the beer. Enter wine. So I drank commercial wines until I realized it is much easier to make wine than it is to make beer (less equipment cost, etc.) and the product is cheap when done. Ta-da! So I am a winemaker. Been at it a couple years now.

 

[Affe]

I saw an internet video saying how easy it is to make wine. I know so many people who drink wine, I thought it would be cool to make my own!

Turns out I was right -- this forum only helped to strengthen my reserve and fuel my ambition!

 

[Wade E]

My expedition started by going to a wine tasting at a local vineyard. They had a few very nice "Country wines" that really tickled our fancy. One was a Black Currant or "Cassis" which was a dessert wine and they were sold in 375 ml bottles for $14.50 each and was 13 miles each way to get there. Within 3 weeks she was driving there or having me go there after work about 3 times a week getting a bottle each time. After about 5 weeks I said ok I have to do something about this and did a little research and ended up buying a can of Vintners Harvest wine base. Had a little trouble getting that started so in a panic again I looked to the computer and ended up on FineVineWines's forum. After A few years there I jumped on here also with some knowledge and helped anyone I could and the rest is about 31,000 posts of history! By the way my wife actually liked my Black Currant beter then the wineries on the first try. That batch I sweetened with some fresh Black Currant juice that is sold locally and I reduced it down by simmering it. I may have started this craze on both forums and at least made it more known as when I brought it up it seemed no one seemed to have an answer for me so I said screw it, it needed more flavor and more sweetness anyway.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

I've been interested in making my own wine for about 8 or 9 years. I just never went and did it because I didn't know where to start. One day I decided to give away my fishing kayak and met a great guy who not only likes to fish but he makes his own wine. Basically, It's all Wade's fault

 

[g8keeper]

my story is simple enough....lol...i had mentioned to my wife at the time, on a few occasions, that i might be interested in making my own beer sometime. well, for a present sometime later, she had gotten me a "mr. beer" kit, and a gift certificate for the lhbs around the corner from us...while in there, the patrons had taken her into the backroom to sample some wines made by some of the customers....she decided she would like it if i tried making wine...a year or 2 later, the kit was untouched, and the gc was still unused....while at work, one of her colleagues was being invited, by another, to attend a meeting of this "brew club"...we were invited as well, and decided to go...after attending the meeting as guests, we were rather intrigued...we sat down with the vintner of the club as he explained to us some of the processes involved with winemaking....he talked about "racking", about how after about a week or 2, you would rack your wine, and then about in another few weeks, to a month, you would rack it again...i remember thinking to myself, (mind you, i had no clue exactly what he meant), wait, if your wine is already now on a rack, why would you go and put it on another, much less the talk of carboys and such....i was wondering what a "porter" had to do with wine making???....and why a car???....can't it be made in a house???...much to my chagrin, he finally explained it all in plain english....we joined the club, and soon after, finally used the gc to purchase my equipment kit and ingredient kit...and the rest is history (just like the wife)....lol...

 

[REDBOATNY]

I grew up on a grape farm in central NY and my father and all the other farmers made wine in barrels. I didn't like it much, but did sneek a bottle or two when the boys went camping. When i moved out, I helped the guy next door make what he called "berry jack" 80# concord grapes, lots of sugar, and water to fill a 50gallon barrel. It was surprisingly good and I made a barrel the following year. I started making wine with dad and got him to try glass carboys. Then I left it for 25 years or so, made beer for a few years and got too fat on that.
Around 2007 started doing wine tours with my brother, and realized I like wine now, and had all the stuff, and knew the basics. So here I am making about 50 gallons a year. And don't know how I made it through the winters without it. Mostly fresh local juice and dabble in fruits.

 

[tonyt]

Fantastic thread.
My wife and grown kids gave me a complete starter kit and WE Selection International Amarone for Fathers Day 2008. It turned out quite good. I might even still have a bottle. Four years and 27 kits later and I think I might be hooked.

 

[SarahRides]

It is a great thread!

So my brother had been homebrewing for a while. My mother and I had liked commercial fruit wines, but felt they were a little sweet for our taste. She had bought herself a wine making kit, then a few months later got me one for Christmas. We both have an interesting time doing it and have been learning together, although I have been much more adventurous than she has! We figured if my brother can make beer, we could do the wine!

 

[Wade E]

I've been interested in making my own wine for about 8 or 9 years. I just never went and did it because I didn't know where to start. One day I decided to give away my fishing kayak and met a great guy who not only likes to fish but he makes his own wine. Basically, It's all Wade's fault

I resemble that remark! LOL

 

[Wade E]

It is a great thread!

So my brother had been homebrewing for a while. My mother and I had liked commercial fruit wines, but felt they were a little sweet for our taste. She had bought herself a wine making kit, then a few months later got me one for Christmas. We both have an interesting time doing it and have been learning together, although I have been much more adventurous than she has! We figured if my brother can make beer, we could do the wine!

So does your Mom have a computer??? hint hint!

 

[SarahRides]

So does your Mom have a computer??? hint hint!

She has one.....doesn't really know how to use it though other than checking her e-mail! The shock of my life came when I got a friend request from her on Facebook! I think going to a forum might be WAY beyond her computing abilities! Although she may surprise me again some day.

 

[Rocky]

I guess how I got into wine making is a variation on Impressment of Seamen that occurs in Italian families called Impressment of Children! My Grandfather, Father and Uncle made wine at our house because of the space we had and the children above age 7 or so were "impressed" to strip the grapes from the clusters and pick out leaves and other extraneous items prior to crushing. As we got older, we were assigned other "duties" like breaking up the cap a few times a day while the wine fermented or cleaning barrels, carboys, presses and crushers. Our wine was "decent" and very drinkable, just a red table wine that varied greatly year to year but for $.25 to $.50 per gallon, it served the purpose. I probably started "making wine" in the late 1940's and continued steadily until I went to college in 1960, because when wine season came, I was hundreds of miles away from home. I entered the Service in the mid 1960's, got married while I was in the Army and my Father-in-Law made probably the best homemade wine that I had ever tasted. (My wife claims that it was the reason I married her, which is not entirely true but it certainly did not work against her.) When I got out of the Service, I began again to make wine with my Father-in-Law and also with my Father and Brothers at two different sites. This continued until work took us out of state so there was a break of some 15 to 20 years in my wine making. One transfer took me to Rochester, NY and right across the street from a vineyard. My builder was also the owner of the vineyard so I began helping out with the harvest in October just for the fun of it, and it was fun! I made about 20-30 gallons at my house from local grapes (mostly Delaware) and from juice buckets (Regina) which was disappointing due to my inexperience with juice.

Retirement and another relocation look me to Powell, Ohio to be nearer our Daughter and Grandchildren. Just after I moved here, I sold much of my wine making equipment (a press, crusher, pump & filter system, oak barrels and many carboys) thinking I would never get back into the hobby. Then one day my Daughter brought back some cherry juice from Michigan and asked me to make some cherry wine for her. I had made a couple batches of cherry wine in Rochester that turned out well and she wanted me to make it again. I needed some supplies and went to a local wine making shop, saw some kits and before I knew it, I was hooked. That was just over a year and about $4000 ago!

 

[shoebiedoo]

I got started on 07 when a lot of the neighbors were making it. I got my wife a started kit for Christmas (she showed the most interest at that point) and we made a kit here and there. I had some health issues in 09 which prevented me from lifting over 6 pounds for about 8 months which made it hard to finish a batch of Cab Franc I had working the whole time. I did finally finish that batch which took almost a year and it was really good. Last July we went to the Finger Lakes area for vacation which sparked my interest again. Then I 5th surgery and a temporary Management job in the office. Being a pilot I could work in the office but not fly. They guy I was working with ended up going to his National Guard assignment for a month. Not yet having a clue about what was going on I had what most people would call a dream job I sat around around and did NOTHING That's when I found this site and thought it was time to get back into it. Having ALL DAY to read, I dove in head 1st and now..."I AM LIKE A JUNKY"!!!

 

[roblloyd]

Similar to a few... My parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas (2010). So I told them I would like a port wine making kit. So that was started January 2011. Seemed easy and looked for other types to make. Found a great LHBS and WMT. The obsession started later in February.
I keep coming back here even though kits are easy to make the people are awesome. I do hate most of you... Wade especially! I met wade last march or april. He was so generous with samples and i had only been on here asking a few questions at that point, that run amok started then! the more I read here the more I buy. I better not hang out with crack heads! Love you guys, Wade included! I owe him a few bottles but I've been waiting for them to age.
My wife did put on the brakes recently until I prove that they are good. Now that a year is starting to pass for some we are diving in and so far so good. The obsession continues

So Wade... Here's to you! Cheers!