# Christmas ideas



## justsipn (Nov 16, 2020)

So....my kids always ask what I want for Christmas. Three kids all in college....so, they go together and might spend $75-100.

I’m new to wine making. So, what’s a good gift idea to tell them?


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## hounddawg (Nov 16, 2020)

6 GL Italian Carboys 

Dawg


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## cmason1957 (Nov 17, 2020)

Italian Floor Corker, Ph Meter, Wine Kit


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## justsipn (Nov 17, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> 6 GL Italian Carboys
> 
> Dawg





cmason1957 said:


> Italian Floor Corker, Ph Meter, Wine Kit


All good ideas. I thought about a floor corker all I have is a hand held one that worked, but I think a floor corker would be nicer.

I also thought about having them pick out the next wine I make and getting me a wine kit. They will be helping us drink it....so they could enjoy the gift too.

I would love another 6 gallon carboy so I could have two batches going at the same time. My wife might start looking at me in that weird way wives do when they think their husbands have gone overboard with something.


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## cmason1957 (Nov 17, 2020)

justsipn said:


> I would love another 6 gallon carboy so I could have two batches going at the same time. My wife might start looking at me in that weird way wives do when they think their husbands have gone overboard with something.



My motto has been, if your wife isn't looking at you like that about wine, then you certainly aren't making enough. I get that look every so often, I have 30+ carboys of various sizes and shapes with about 15 or so of them filled at the present time.


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## Khristyjeff (Nov 18, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> My motto has been, if your wife isn't looking at you like that about wine, then you certainly aren't making enough. I get that look every so often, I have 30+ carboys of various sizes and shapes with about 15 or so of them filled at the present time.



My hero!


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## winemaker81 (Nov 19, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> My motto has been, if your wife isn't looking at you like that about wine, then you certainly aren't making enough.


It may be that she has simply conceded ....


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## cmason1957 (Nov 19, 2020)

winemaker81 said:


> It may be that she has simply conceded ....



Some days she just shakes her head, other days she jumps in and cleans bottles. The latter often happens after she tastes something and goes, my that is good.


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## FTC Wines (Nov 20, 2020)

justsipin, only one carboy, oh my! We have 22 carboys and are always looking for another. This hobby “ grows “ on you! Roy


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## justsipn (Nov 20, 2020)

FTC Wines said:


> justsipin, only one carboy, oh my! We have 22 carboys and are always looking for another. This hobby “ grows “ on you! Roy


I actually have two. When I started my first batch of rhubarb in April, I didn’t know what size to buy so I bought a 5 gallon. Recently I started a kit so I needed a 6 gallon. It worked out great because when I racked it the first time, I just racked it into the 5 gallon with two extra bottles for future topping off later.


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## NoQuarter (Nov 20, 2020)

I would also go with a wine kit. As mentioned above, something your entire family enjoys You can share it with them when they visit.
When they have got their degrees and are making big money, go with some oak barrels....


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## justsipn (Nov 20, 2020)

NoQuarter said:


> I would also go with a wine kit. As mentioned above, something your entire family enjoys You can share it with them when they visit.
> When they have got their degrees and are making big money, go with some oak barrels....


Speaking of which. 

I’ve been looking and it’s hard finding a 5 or 6 gallon barrel.


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## NoQuarter (Nov 20, 2020)

I got a couple 6 gallons Hungarian oak barrels a while back from E.C. Kraus.. They were pricey though.


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## BMarNJ (Nov 20, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> My motto has been, if your wife isn't looking at you like that about wine, then you certainly aren't making enough. I get that look every so often, I have 30+ carboys of various sizes and shapes with about 15 or so of them filled at the present time.


My husband encourages me to buy whatever wine supplies I need so that I can't complain about his garden purchases


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## winemaker81 (Nov 20, 2020)

BMarNJ said:


> My husband encourages me to buy whatever wine supplies I need so that I can't complain about his garden purchases


proving that wine making is not exclusively a "boy's club"!


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## mainshipfred (Nov 20, 2020)

winemaker81 said:


> proving that wine making is not exclusively a "boy's club"!



It is surprising though how few women make wine, at least on this forum. Whenever I visit wineries it is always mostly women.


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## sour_grapes (Nov 20, 2020)

winemaker81 said:


> proving that wine making is not exclusively a "boy's club"!



Well, that post does not, in fact, prove that!


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## purpletongue (Nov 21, 2020)

Wine, like many growing arts, like gardening, involve so much nourishing. They involve attention and empathy, a sense of compassion that allows one to better understand what the organisms they are exploiting are going through. Thus, women, as natures mothers are perhaps more suited than men in this symbiotic endeavor. Food for thought.


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## JBP (Nov 21, 2020)

Perhaps we women wine-makers are just lurkers here - listening and learning!


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## DizzyIzzy (Nov 21, 2020)

mainshipfred said:


> It is surprising though how few women make wine, at least on this forum. Whenever I visit wineries it is always mostly women.


If someone starts a thread to determine how many women are on this forum, count me as one of the few............................................DizzyIzzy


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## winemaker81 (Nov 22, 2020)

JBP said:


> Perhaps we women wine-makers are just lurkers here - listening and learning!


Come out of the shadows, participate!  

In my experience this forum is gender neutral -- I have not seen the childish jackassery that is common on gaming forums. It's a pleasant change, and results in my spending online time here rather than in forums for my other hobbies.



DizzyIzzy said:


> If someone starts a thread to determine how many women are on this forum, count me as one of the few


Start one! That would make an interesting survey.


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## Rice_Guy (Nov 22, 2020)

justsipn said:


> So....my kids always ask what I want for Christmas. I’m new to wine making. So, what’s a good gift idea to tell them?


_three possible personality directions_
* a kit that they would enjoy drinking with you’all (the end/ celebration is the important part)
* a pH meter, a digital scale good for 0.01gm and a gift certificate for chemicals needed to let you cook up your own mix (hands on, you play with your food)
* The New Cider Maker’s Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur (you are cerebral and ask why a system works, ex how to balance flavor to make a country wine, or what organism causes a fermentation infection and how to cure it, or how to calculate load in a press as well as calculate and test for a hundred other things)


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## DizzyIzzy (Nov 23, 2020)

winemaker81 said:


> Come out of the shadows, participate!
> 
> In my experience this forum is gender neutral -- I have not seen the childish jackassery that is common on gaming forums. It's a pleasant change, and results in my spending online time here rather than in forums for my other hobbies.
> 
> ...


I am afraid that I am technologically-challenged!! Wouldn't know how to do that or I would................................DizzyIzzy


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## winemanden (Nov 24, 2020)

When we had a winemakers club here in Banbury, two of the best winemakers were women. Not only that they were good tasters too. Generally speaking, I think women are far better tasters than most men, and that includes me.


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## winemaker81 (Nov 24, 2020)

winemanden said:


> When we had a winemakers club here in Banbury, two of the best winemakers were women. Not only that they were good tasters too. Generally speaking, I think women are far better tasters than most men, and that includes me.


Supposedly women have a better sense of smell than men -- my wife is proof of that as she'll quickly pick up smells long before I do.

A former girlfriend taught me more about wine appreciation than everything else combined. Her sense of smell was just short of amazing.


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## Johnd (Nov 24, 2020)

My wife got me one of those "Wine Tastes" kits for Christmas a few years ago, hundreds of vials of both pleasant and off odors, to help us with identification of the many tastes / aromas in winemaking. Of course, it turned into a competition rather quickly. We split into two teams, me, my son and step-son were one team, my wife and two daughters were the other team. As a long time wine drinker and having been making wine for years, I was sure that my presence on the boys team would be an unfair advantage. They beat the living hell out of us, identifying correctly the smells at a rate of 3 to 1 better than we did. At least in my family, the ladies have better aroma perception / identification hands down...................how very humbling.

Hats off to all of our female winemakers!!!!!!!!!


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## Rice_Guy (Nov 24, 2020)

I also had favorite coworkers all of which happened to be gals who could rank 1% changes in high cost ingredient vs a lower cost substitute ,,, 


winemaker81 said:


> Supposedly women have a better sense of smell than men -- my wife is proof of that as she'll quickly pick up smells long before I do.


, , , , honey, , I didn’t do anything today, I don’t need to take a shower


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## winemaker81 (Nov 24, 2020)

Rice_Guy said:


> , , , , honey, , I didn’t do anything today, I don’t need to take a shower


Absolutely!


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## Arne (Nov 27, 2020)

DizzyIzzy said:


> I am afraid that I am technologically-challenged!! Wouldn't know how to do that or I would................................DizzyIzzy


Go to the forum you want to start a new message. At the top of the messages should have one that says "thread title" put your title there and the message underneath. Arne. @DizzyIzzy


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