What to Expect

[svennn]

Hey everyone. I'm new to the forum and have a few questions.

I first tried my hand at beer brewing about 20 years ago. I'm now an avid coffee roaster. I love good coffee and good wine. One thing I have learned is that I can make better home roasted coffee than I can buy just about anywhere.

I love good wine but I don't consider myself a wine snob. I know good wine when I drink it. What I'm trying to figure out is what to realistically expect? Are the results from a better quality kit wine really good? Better than say, Black Box wine? I would not waste my money on Black Box but if I could beat that at home......great.

I'm trying to find some reassurance before I take the plunge.

Also, any ideas for a good Southern Rhone kit would be great

Steve

 

[DirtyDawg10]

I had the same doubts that initially kept me from making my own wine. Then I ran into Wade and tried some of his homemade wine and it blew me away what could be achieved at home. Needless to say, I am a believer now.

 

[hobbyiswine]

You can make very good even excellent wine from home. Just know that like any other "hobby" or even profession, you generally get what you pay for...or in this hobby you get what you put in. Premium products yield premium product. Good wine can be made almost too easily. Great wine requires more time and investment and did i mention time? The saying says good things come to those who wait. In winemaking you need a very comfy chair because making wine is about 10% work and 90% waiting. Maybe even 99%.

My advice is to be happy to make good and decent wine for the short term. You will like it, your friends will love it and you will have a lot of fun and learn a lot too. Great wine will come in time. I am well into the process and have made a lot of good wine. Still waiting on the great. Did i mention this hobby takes time??? Check the recipe section and get some juice in a bucket and add some yeast! Best hobby in the world. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Trackinghound]

I am new and chomping at the bit........ This first batch I have is driving me crazy waiting. I am on my 3rd month so I started another. My plan is starting a batch every other month.

 

[svennn]

Alright, I'll give it a shot. With a good kit. I'll search through some forum post and look for a good all around starter kit that will yield drinkable wine.

I can use my 25 year old beer stuff without issue? I have one plastic bucket and a glass carboy.

People think I'm crazy for roasting coffee at home, wait until they see my wine.

 

[Julie]

svennn,

Welcome to winemakingtalk. And to add to what others have said, the great thing about making your own wine is you control how it comes out. You are going to love this!

 

[Boatboy24]

svennn,

Welcome aboard! I'm still very new at this, but had the same concerns when I started. I started with a small investment in equipment and a $43 kit from Amazon. That wine is now almost 8 months old and is "OK" in my book. I'd drink it with most meals, but certainly wouldn't rave about it. That being said, it only cost me about $2/bottle to make. I'd put that two dollar wine against just about any 5-8 dollar bottles. I've since gravitated toward the higher end kits (Cellar Craft Showcase, Cellar Classic Winery Series, etc). Looking at the total cost of one of those might make you hesitate, but the reality is your cost per bottle of only $5-6. I have 4 month old kits in that range that rival $12 wines and they are getting better. I can't wait to see what they are like at the 1 year mark.

Be careful though. I started with a minimalist equipment arsenal. I now have 9 or ten carboys and just ordered my first 6 gallon oak barrel. This addiction can get out of control quickly.

Jim

 

[svennn]

Boatboy, I see you are in the DC area......you buy your kits online or do you have a local store? MD Homebrew is not too far for me and they carry Winexpert pretty heavily.

I'm leaning towards trying one of their kits to start.

svennn,

Welcome aboard! I'm still very new at this, but had the same concerns when I started. I started with a small investment in equipment and a $43 kit from Amazon. That wine is now almost 8 months old and is "OK" in my book. I'd drink it with most meals, but certainly wouldn't rave about it. That being said, it only cost me about $2/bottle to make. I'd put that two dollar wine against just about any 5-8 dollar bottles. I've since gravitated toward the higher end kits (Cellar Craft Showcase, Cellar Classic Winery Series, etc). Looking at the total cost of one of those might make you hesitate, but the reality is your cost per bottle of only $5-6. I have 4 month old kits in that range that rival $12 wines and they are getting better. I can't wait to see what they are like at the 1 year mark.

Be careful though. I started with a minimalist equipment arsenal. I now have 9 or ten carboys and just ordered my first 6 gallon oak barrel. This addiction can get out of control quickly.

Jim

 

[Boatboy24]

So far, all my kits have been purchased on line through sponsors of this site. My experience with all of them has been very good. I've ordered from FineVineWines, Brew and Wine Supply and Northern Brewer. You should check them out - their prices and service are great. I live outside of Manassas, VA and there is a small brew shop about 4 miles from my house. They cater to beer brewers primarily, but they stock a reasonable supply of equipment and supplies as well as a small selection of mid-range kits. The owner there has told me he can order pretty much anything I want, but I haven't taken him up on that yet. I plan to though.

 

[robie]

Welcome to the forum.

This was my big question when I first wanted to make wine. To really find out, you need to join a wine club and go to the meetings. Generally, at most meetings there will be many bottles of homemade wine. Try them and ask how old they are.

One cannot make really good wine from bad grapes, or even mediocre grapes. However, one can still make bad wine, even from good grapes.

It is much easier to acquire good coffee beans than it is good wine grapes. The really good grapes are going to be used at the vineyard owner's winery to make very nice wine, or it is going to be sold under contract to some commercial winery to make that same great wine. They just aren't gong to sell the best grapes for kits or to distributors for distribution to home wine makers.

My opinion is you are not going to make really good wine unless you have access to really good fresh or frozen grapes. That is a really big problem unless you know someone very special.

The next best is making wine from ultra-premium kits. Even then, (I am probably going to get verbally smitten for this), under typical circumstances you can expect the resulting wine is not going to be much better than a nice $12 bottle of wine. (I drink mostly $10 to $12 wines and I have several that I really enjoy.) Now, if you make an ultra-premium red and you let it age out for, say, 30 months, you can do much better, but most kit wine makers don't wait that long.

With all this in mind, I make wine at home for several reasons. I enjoy $12 bottles of wine. I can greatly improve a kit wine by aging it a long time and by putting it through a oak wine barrel. The satisfaction of making and waiting on a wine to mature is something very special to me.

Others WILL disagree, but that's my opinion.

 

[Stressbaby]

As Paul Bloom says, we are essentialists. Origins matter. The origin of music, art, and wine significantly affects how we perceive and enjoy them. Knowing who made the wine and what effort went into the drink will affect (generally favorably) the pleasure you get from the wine.

In my mind this is a great reason for making your own wine.

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bloom_the_origins_of_pleasure.html