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



## JohnT (Mar 23, 2012)

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".


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## 1ChuckGauthier (Mar 23, 2012)

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


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## KenS (Mar 23, 2012)

JohnT said:


> OK,
> 
> 
> I learned winemaking in stages.
> ...



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!


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## fivebk (Mar 23, 2012)

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


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## Scott (Mar 23, 2012)

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


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## Runningwolf (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## jswordy (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## Affe (Mar 23, 2012)

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!


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## Wade E (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## DirtyDawg10 (Mar 23, 2012)

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


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## g8keeper (Mar 23, 2012)

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...


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## REDBOATNY (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## tonyt (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## SarahRides (Mar 24, 2012)

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!


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## Wade E (Mar 24, 2012)

DirtyDawg10 said:


> 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


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## Wade E (Mar 24, 2012)

SarahRides said:


> 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!


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## SarahRides (Mar 24, 2012)

Wade E said:


> 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.


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## Rocky (Mar 24, 2012)

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!


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## shoebiedoo (Mar 24, 2012)

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"!!!


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## roblloyd (Mar 25, 2012)

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!


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## Wade E (Mar 25, 2012)

You dont owe me anything Rob. But if youy must Id actually prefer some of that Skeeter Pee over the big reds right now. Ive typically got a decent supply of thgose but I have not made the skeeter pee and liked your last Chianti version.


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## roblloyd (Mar 25, 2012)

You got it! I just bought everything to start a batch of blueberry lemon skeeter. I had all the supplies but used the 10lb of sugar this weekend for my kids school fund-raiser. I used it for cotton candy. So later this week I'll have that going.



Wade E said:


> You dont owe me anything Rob. But if youy must Id actually prefer some of that Skeeter Pee over the big reds right now. Ive typically got a decent supply of thgose but I have not made the skeeter pee and liked your last Chianti version.


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## SLOweather (Mar 26, 2012)

Heh, therein hangs a tale... Better pour yourself a glass and sit back....

We live in the midst of the Central California Coast wine country, but were never really interested. Then 3 years ago this coming Father's Day, our vet held her annual benefit open house. There were a few wineries there offering tastings and cheese pairings. The lady from Saucelito Canyon offered us a 10% off card and invited us to their monthly Sunset Club on the next Thursday. We went and had a great time. 

We started looking for other winery events to attend, rather than just "tasting". We went to Sips and Songs at Claiborne and Churchill, Tapas at Tolosa, Twilight Wine and Apps at Harmony Cellars, and other, and of course more Sunset Club.

I suppose Tapas at Tolosa was the second event we tried. That evening we met some sunbirds from AZ who have become very good friends. We even visited them in Mesa last month as a part of our vacation. (You've possibly heard of Snowbirds, those people that move to AZ or FL for the winter to escape the cold and snow of the northern climes. Sunbirds come to SLO from AZ in the summer to escape the heat. there's quite a colony of them from the fourth of July until after Labor Day. Some of them take over otherwise summer-vacant student housing.)

Another Saucilito Canyon event was a benefit for Condor Lookout, which is a refurbished USFS Fire Lookout now used for California Condor research. that led to me getting to place one of my WeatherElement web weather stations on the lookout.

But I digress.... 

We got more into the wine scene, visited more wineries, and joined a couple 3 wine clubs. We had our 28th anniversary at Harmony Cellars, and our 29th (#29, Let's Drink Some Wine) as a BYOB to share tasting down in our woods.

Now then, last year I had a local contractor do some work for our water company. I jet around the water co. environs on my Kawasaki Mule. Ed (the contractor) and I were chatting on the job site and I mentioned that we sometimes took the Mule up Prefumo Canyon, over the top, and down to See Canyon to one of the popular local apple farms to get apples in the fall. He invited us to go a mile further to his orchard/vineyard to get some better apples, and try his wine, as he has his own vineyard. The next time we met, he brought me a bottle of his syrah, which was really good. 

We then made the trek to see them, and took our new pup, Markie along. We now have some more new wine friends, and Markie a new girlfriend, they're little jack Russell Penny. Those two can tear it up for hours on end..

So, the Sunday before last Labor Day, before the Sunbirds left to go back to AZ, we took them wine and apple tasting to Creekside Farms. That was an extraordinary experience, as Ed doesn't have an official tasting room, just the apple stand. But, we got to be one on one with the wine maker himself, got to do vertical tastings of different vintages, got to try his special Port, and even some barrel tastings.

The friendship with them led to placing another WeatherElement station in one of their orchards.

We had to wait until after apple season to invite Edward and Donna and the dogs to our house to thank them for the wine tasting. we had them down in the woods for sausages cooked over the open fir and duh, wine... Ed wander up over the hill to check on the dogs. When he came back, he mentioned that that SW facing slope would be perfect for a couple hundred dry farmed, head trained Zin vines.

Damn him, anyway..... that's all it took....

We racked our first kit yesterday, and the first 25 zin vines (clone 8 on 1103p rootstock) ship today from Sunridge Nurseries.... And I'm rearranging some of the wireless weather stations in my home network to monitor conditions and soil moisture in the new vineyard. Then we'll get the data to the WeatherElement for display on the Internet.

And, the Sunbirds are probably going to rent Ed and Donna's vineyard view cabin for a couple weeks this summer, and we're planning our 30th anniversary this August. The traditional gift for #30 is pearls, so we're thinking the theme might be "Pearls Before Wine".

I told my wife, Katie, that based on my research on how long it takes for the vines to start producing harvestable quantities of grapes, and how long it takes to make and age wine, we could have a couple of vintages of our own wine ready to serve at our 40th.


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## Arne (Mar 26, 2012)

Many many years ago, I heard about the Welches, some sugar, a pk of yeast gallon jug and a balloon. Made some then, wasn't good, but I was in the Navy and didn't have much money. Just before payday, it got a lot better. Next time was probably 10 years later. We found some chokecherry bushes and I had come across a recipe. Kinda like what we do now, threw everything in a crock and let er sit for a while. Shortly thereafter, we drank it. Still really wasn't good but we tried to say it was. Didn't know you could throw a little sugar in to sweeten after it was done. It probably wouldn't of been too bad that way. Fast forward a ways, a few years ago our little cherry tree went balistic. Kathy got all the pie cherries she wanted and rather than waste them I got this wine making idea. Instead of trying to find the old recipe I had used, I played on the net for a while and jumped in feet first. Once I got started as happens to a lot of us, things got a little out of hand, but hoping some of the fruit trees make it this spring. They are all flowering, but we will find out in a couple of months. Take care all, Arne.


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## astebbi1 (Apr 8, 2012)

Awesome thread had to share.. 
I got started purely just to save some cash, "5ltr of wine for $12!?!? I'm sure I could make it myself for at least half the price.." I did some research and it turns out people do just that so I knew I could get into it.. Developed into a fun hobby and now I love every aspect of making it (especially the drinking for cheap).. Hah I feel like such a lush with a story like that but hey I'm happy..
Cheers Winos!!


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## kayaknh11 (May 26, 2012)

So one day a Priest walks into a wine shop....Okay, that's not the whole story....I've always been interested in making wine. 4 years ago I brought my parents to Windsor Onterio to see my Uncle Eddie. And yes, he was a priest. Anyway, while we were there, he told us he had to go bottle his wine. That was all it took. We helped him with his wine and when I got home started making wine and have been doing it ever since. So, I thank or blame my Uncle, depending on how the wine making is going...


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## Deezil (May 26, 2012)

Click the Wine Log link in my signature & read the first post 



It was August 2009. Did research for a full year & started that thread in August 2010.


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## dangerdave (May 29, 2012)

My lovely wife, Johnna, has a bad back, and likes a bit of wine to make her smile. I like that, too---seeing her smile more, that is. We have visited wineries everywhere we go on vacation in various states in the eastern US for many years. We just love good wine. Why it took me so long to realize I could make it myself is anyone's guess. Maybe it was the memory of my mom's cheap---horrible---wine kits from the 1970's that put me off. Then...

In July of 2011, I got tired of spending $12 a bottle for wine (from the grocery store or vineyard) that IMO was substandard. I _knew_ I could make better! I got on line looking for advice and wine supplies. I came across George at FineVineWines, and watched several videos of him making a kit. From his commercial site, I found my way here. I made my first kit last August (2011), and never stopped. I just started my 30th batch yesterday! And every one has been a hit!

Once again, I want to thank all the wonderful folks here who helped me become the winemaker that I am! You know who you are!


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## tatud4life (May 30, 2012)

Well, I had never heard of muscadines until 4 years ago. (I know. I'm obsessed with them.) My wife and I found some at a local farmers market. I think we ate about 80 pounds that summer. We had tried growing vegetables, but we are both too busy to check on a garden every day. I started searching the world wide web for alternatives since I do enjoy growing things. I found Ison's and thought I would give them a try. I bought my first vine and planted it. While I was waiting for it to grow, I decided to read a couple of books on winemaking and I visited a couple of wineries. 3 years later, I have 3 vines, 4 blackberries, 4 raspberries, and 4 apple trees. This year I should get my first good crop off of my oldest vine. It should turn into wine this fall.  

On a side note, if anyone is in the Gatlinburg, TN area, you need to stop by Sugarland Cellars!!!! They make one spectacular muscadine wine and are extremely friendly. One of their growers/ wine makers Kirk really helped me this year when a bad frost almost wiped out my vines. Extremely nice guy!!!!!


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## btom2004 (May 30, 2012)

Great thread...I'll share my story.

I remember way back when I was a young child about 7 years old. I had come across this big pickle jar in the cabinet under the sink. It was full of some funny looking red liquid and had this white stuff at the bottom of it. It looked like something from a Sci-Fi movie. My dad walks in and I said "hey dad what is this." He told me it was his home brewed wine. I never knew my dad to even drink, let alone making his own wine. (I wondered if mom knew? But I never asked.) So he opens up the jar, pulls out this stocking squeezes out the liquid; smells the messy looking stuff and goes ahead and pours out a drop or two for a taste test sample. "Yeah" he says and asked if it wanted to try it. No way I said and ran for my life outside to play.

I had no idea that everything in that jar was as it should be. It was juice, yeast, water that was fermenting wine as only wine can be made. I drink beer, other mixed drinks and wine. 
I often thought about making my own beer but have never tried.

I have this sister-in law who is a bit religious and likes to consume wine, she calls the miracle of Jesus. "He turned water into wine", she says. (I thought to myself...yeah they call it brewing and laughed...LOL.) Well that did it for me. That coupled with that early childhood exposure to wine making, of my dad's low budget hook-up.

I purchased all the equipment needed and a Merlot Red Wine kit. I just got the wine into the primary fermenter on 05/29/12. As I type I can smell the gas coming out of the air lock. It smells like wine to me...LOL.

When this batch is finished I'll call it, Tom's Jagnom (J.A.G.N.O.M.) Red.


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## rhythmsteve (May 30, 2012)

Had a bunch of fruit trees on the property and was tired of eating them, I'd rather drink them


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