I work in wine and spirits retail at a high end store and would like to learn more about actual winemaking. I’ve farmed but I’ve never gone through the fermentation process. I’m interested in perhaps fermenting purchased grapes and learning the nuances.
Somm Looking to Make
- Thread starter Bmacman
- Start date
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Welcome to WMT!
Where are you located? We may be able to give some pointers to regional sources of grapes for the fall.
Where are you located? We may be able to give some pointers to regional sources of grapes for the fall.
BernardSmith
Senior Member
Hi Bacman - and welcome. You might want to start with a wine kit rather than with grapes not least because you will need to find space and equipment to crush the grapes (to break the skins ) before you start and then press the grapes to squeeze out the juice whereas with a kit the grapes have been pressed and you get the concentrated juice at appropriate brix (sugar content) and pH in a volume that a hobbyist can handle. I make country wines (from fruits and vegetables other than wine grapes) and meads so I may not be the best person to answer your post but I have made a few kits and they do help you learn many of the nuances (picking grapes at the right time, obtaining grapes from the right sources, crushing so that you don't get too much tannin etc are not learned from kits) but the basics are all there and they are there in batches of 5 or 6 gallons (a couple of cases)..
Yes, I agree with @BernardSmith. It was definitely helpful for me to make kits before tackling grapes.
