Wow, the grapes this year look good

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This year I decided to hold off on wine making. My group grew too big and ended up having "people issues" with one of the members of my group. On top of that, I had some personal issues to take care of.

Most years I needed to take several days off around crush in order to manage everything. To give you an idea of the size of this, we crushed up over 4 tons last year with 20 or so families making wine. At crush, we had around 80 people attending.

I make no money at this. I'll say this again... I MAKE NO MONEY AT THIS. all of the expenses were pro-rated by the crate and passes down to the "members", myself included. I was doing this for the shear enjoyment of it all. The big issue was that I was not enjoying it. It became just a long stream of stress.

Having no crush this year seemed like a great plan, until I told my older brother. He has had a tough year. He currently is going through the toughest thing I think a parent can go through. When I looked at his face, I just couldn't refuse.

It then struck me. Me and my older brother never did anything together.. ever. This was a great opportunity for use to do something as brothers. So my plan changed. Instead of no crush at all, I decided to just do a little with my older brother.

God himself must have loved the idea. The grapes at my local (cabernet) had a brix of 24, with a TA of .65. I do not think I have ever gotten grapes that were this well balanced (and I have been doing this for 22 years). We ended up doing a little more than I originally expected, but being at my local, with a refractometer, wonderful grapes, and a checkbook, who can possibly resist?

Here is what we ended up doing..
22 lugs of Cabernet blended with 5 lugs of merlot
5 lugs of merlot (straight)
5 lugs of Syrah
5 lugs of Prima T.

To some, the above may be a lot. To others, it may seem like very little. To me, it is less than 1/10th of what was normally made.

My "mini crush" was better than I ever expected. Instead of taking a day off to rent a truck and pick up the grapes, a day off to get the house and yard in shape, a day off to tend to equipment and get the winery ready, we did it all in one day.

My brother, who owns a construction company, has a dump truck with 4 wheel drive. We went down to the local around 7am, picked up the grapes, brought them to the winery, crushed them, cleaned and put all of the equipment away, all in the SAME DAY!!!! My brother even could compact the empty creates and dispose of them for about $10. We finished around 2pm. Two Nieces and a nephew also were there to help out, so everything went quick and easy.

Then the good part came. Me and my brother hung out (with 3 of his 7 kids) and did some sippin. It was great to get together with him again. As it turns out, he is a rather remarkable and extraordinary. Through it all, I was reminded of just how much fun winemaking was, before we grew, before having people problems, and before it became an assembly line process.

I had told all of the members of my group that I am only doing a little wine for myself and my brother and that I needed a year off from crush. This really pissed off some folks that I though were my friends. Ultimatly, I came to realize that I originally gotten into this as a passtime and for self enjoyment. My brother and his kids managed to bring that feeling back.

I may have to make some tough choices for next year. After such a great experience this year, I doubt that I will want to ever go back to the way things were.

But I digress. Sorry about the log post. The point I wanted to make was that this year's grapes from California look AWESOME!!!!

johnT.
 
You probably would never look at it this way, but from reading this post and your earlier posts, I am convinced that your generosity was simply being taken advantage of your so-called "friends". As you point out, you were making no money off the deal, and that's what led to the explosion of 'interest'. You were supplying equipment, scheduling, facilities, and expertise for *free* while your 'friends' knew they would have to pay a lot of money for all that. Hence, they are 'pissed off' that you decided to turn off the 'tap', so to speak.

I'm like you (on a much smaller scale) - I will make wine from grapes or kits for a small 'bottle fee' (usually 20% or so - 6 bottles out of a kit of 30) for family and in-laws, but I only expect them to pay for the raw materials. They have provided a lot of bottles over the years and only once has a full bottle been returned because it was not to their liking (no hard feelings - everybody's tastes are different, I was thrilled to get back another bottle of that good stuff!). I have no interest in making a 'profit' - that's what "work" is for. And like you, I didn't start making wine so it would become "work".
 
Good story John. Thats ~90G finished wine split between the two families. Sounds about right! Agree you were being taken advantage of if it grew into that.

Its never to late to make memories with family if they are still here.

You made us all stop and think about our own families and taking the time to spend more of it with them while were all here on this big ol' rock.
 
John that was a great story!! I am glad you are able to share this experience with your brother...
 
Good for you and your brother spending some quality time. Things just may not ever be as they were and that can be a good thing.
 
Good for you and your brother spending some quality time. Things just may not ever be as they were and that can be a good thing.

Good point here, Robie. One of my favorite inspirational quotes is, "In every challenge there is a gift." Connecting with his brother is John's gift from the difficulty that he had within his wine club.
 
JohnT, what a wonderful story. Do you realize there was a reason you started to have "people problems?" If none of that happen you would have never gotten the opportunity to start this endeavor with you brother.
 
Julie,

I agree.

Before crush, I was depressed and not much into making wine again. The "people Problems" really got to me.

Now I am recharged about it all. After having such a good time with my brother, I can't wait until next year.

johnT.
 
Julie,

I agree.

Before crush, I was depressed and not much into making wine again. The "people Problems" really got to me.

Now I am recharged about it all. After having such a good time with my brother, I can't wait until next year.

johnT.
Hey John,This is my story we are always asked to join clubs and lots of friends,but our club only consist of my brothers and me.We really enjoy just us 3 together and our nephew sometimes.We did have 4 but life would have it one of us was taking away.My brother Mario and my father were our biggest fan.Keep making wine with your brother(grape crushing) and you will enjoy it more.Great story thanks for sharing!!
 
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