# How do you make wine?



## TxBrew (Mar 4, 2017)

Doing a little industry polling for people to understand where the current market is.

While I know a lot of us have probably done a lot, if not all, please vote on the method you use primarily to make wine (as of recent).

Also sharing any insight into that method/kit would be helpful like why you ended up focusing on that ingredient method.


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## AkTom (Mar 4, 2017)

I use fresh sometimes frozen fruit mostly. A few kits for my wife.


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## BernardSmith (Mar 4, 2017)

But there are other options (frozen fruit, for example and fruit juices come to mind)


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## dralarms (Mar 5, 2017)

Need an option for concentrates. Unless that falls under juice kits.


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## bkisel (Mar 5, 2017)

I answered Kits but fruit wines are a VERY close second. I've also have and plan to do more bucket wine (bucket wine kit?). Wish you had asked how I didn't make wine then the answer would have been - Fresh Grapes!


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## Boatboy24 (Mar 5, 2017)

All of the above.


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## cgallamo (Mar 5, 2017)

I chose fruit wine, but I also make fresh grapes and frozen pails. Thanks for putting up the poll!


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## TxBrew (Mar 5, 2017)

Added a couple more options.

Maybe first we should discuss the options and I reset the poll?

Does the setup I have now properly cover all aspects?


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## Tnuscan (Mar 5, 2017)

TxBrew said:


> Added a couple more options.
> 
> Maybe first we should discuss the options and I reset the poll?
> 
> Does the setup I have now properly cover all aspects?



Maybe an "All of the above"?? 

And/or the ability to choose more than one.


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## dcbrown73 (Mar 5, 2017)

Tnuscan said:


> Maybe an "All of the above"??
> 
> And/or the ability to choose more than one.



Yep. Currently two are correct, (kits and fruit) but I plan on changing that as soon as fresh grapes come in.


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## joeswine (Mar 5, 2017)

*how do you make wine*

I've done all the above and mix all the above never to be limited in what I would like to try or do. always thinking out side the box


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## jmac (Mar 5, 2017)

*Not a kit man.*

Fresh, or dried ingredients and or juices.


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## BernardSmith (Mar 5, 2017)

I think you want us to be able to provide more than one option AND to have another block that enables us to add something that you have not thought about (honey varietals, for example, for mead)..


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## kwilly (Mar 6, 2017)

*Pretty standard*

I've mostly used the kits but on occasion have used the buckets. I really have not had as much success with the buckets but then again that may have more to do with the varietal I've made.
I do much prefer the kits that include the grape skins. It gives a more authentic taste and smell. My favorite has been Amarone. I have made about 7.5 cases and has all been very good. A close second would blends like Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon/Franc/Merlot.
Have not had much luck with whites. Would like to make a nice Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris any suggestions?


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## MSLISAJ (Mar 6, 2017)

I use fresh grapes only because I have 10 vines that are generous to give me about 160 pounds of grapes every year. But I have to admit that the best tasting wines I have ever produced were from wine kits.
I live in the north west and our growing season here is short. So my grapes don't get really mature. But my friends love my home made wine. So it's very drinkable.


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## Landwaster (Mar 6, 2017)

checking off more than one option would be good. We do fresh grapes, cider from fresh orchard juice, dabble in other fruit wines...

Perhaps cider and mead should be their own options...


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## happywolf (Mar 6, 2017)

*Kits and fresh fruits*

Depending on the time of the year I either do kits or fresh fruit. Living in Pennsylvania we don't have fresh fruit year round


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## acorn (Mar 6, 2017)

Primarily I use fresh grapes, but also fresh fruit (especially berries). I used to make wine out of juices and concentrates, but I figured I might as well go entirely "from scratch" if I am already using more than half of the time and equipment with juices as with fresh fruit.


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## CrownedBee (Mar 6, 2017)

I chose Standard Wine Kits, as I've only been in the hobby for a year and that was the simplest route for a beginner. The ingredients and instructions are conveniently packaged, and I don't have to worry about pH or the quality of the juice or any of the additives. Small changes, like trying different strains of yeast or varying the amounts of oak, are simple and relatively low-risk. There's a wide variety of kits available at different price ranges, so I can make (and have made...) several different varieties to learn what I do and don't like. 

I'm thinking of expanding into juice buckets later this year, since I'm now more comfortable with the process.


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## g1230g (Mar 6, 2017)

Standard kits for me...Cabernet, Merlot, etc.


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## Whispermatthes (Mar 6, 2017)

I am a beginner, this was the first year I made more then a few bottles. I made about 150 bottles of peach,plum and cherry wine. I choose those fruits because they were plentiful and free or very inexpensive. I paid .75 cents a pound for two varieties of cherries (and I love them) and got over a hundred pounds. I was given 4 boxes of peaches and harvested from my own two trees. Lastly I picked from my moms plum tree a couple boxes and intend on doing that every year as long as the trees bear fruit.
I'll make more this year since the wine is already just about gone. It was so good we all loved it!


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## boppy1 (Mar 6, 2017)

My vote was for "Other" since I purchase refrigerated 6 gallon buckets of juice, not kits, from various countries through a local winery.


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## Kayts (Mar 6, 2017)

I started out using the unusual fruits of the season..Rhubarb..Pin Cherry..Rasberry..Apple..and now have made Merlot...learning more as I go on how to do it right...my extended family is enjoying it...and have more of grape wine going now...


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## portveyn (Mar 6, 2017)

Frozen apple juice. Store brand. 16% alc!


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## ChateauDeAnne (Mar 6, 2017)

I have made many fruit wines (plum , feijoa, kiwifruit and strawberry wine) for a number of years now. It is cheap and plentiful when in season and never had a failed one using these fruits. Had to put a number of others through the still as they were not drinkable (peach, melon, banana)


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## Jackssailor (Mar 6, 2017)

I use mainly fresh fruits that I freeze. I also do maybe 3-4 kits a year. Recently started doing tea wines also.


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## marquettematt (Mar 6, 2017)

I do fresh grapes and juice buckets. Since I'm prone to making reds, I wish I could find must rather than just juice


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## topper9520 (Mar 6, 2017)

*winemaking technique*

I use only fresh grapes but am not against using fresh juice if the juice is coming from Italy and I am trying to perfect a certain Italian wine since we cannot get the grape from Italy I would consider using juice.


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## jburtner (Mar 6, 2017)

I've done kits, fruit, and some juice buckets. Leaning towards frozen must/juice for future or grapes if I can get em. 

Cheers!
-johann


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## Rosa321 (Mar 6, 2017)

I use blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries because I have them growing on my property and it makes the wine cheap!


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## pdq250 (Mar 6, 2017)

I grow five verities (over 500 vines) and make wine from them. Four red and one white. I live in Paso Robles CA.


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## wildhair (Mar 6, 2017)

I use fresh fruit in season, but I also have fresh grapes and I freeze fruit to use later in the fall/winter. So............. ??


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## rustbucket (Mar 6, 2017)

I've decided to stick with making wine kits. My forays into juice bucket wine making has not met with the success that I had hoped it would; whereas, most of my kit wines have produced wines that match the style advertised on the box. Skeeter pee and dragon blood this spring may be the exception to that resolve.


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## Simpsini (Mar 6, 2017)

kits. Their easy and the product is very good. They make good wine with little fuss


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## RobGlug (Mar 6, 2017)

Fruit wines, flower wines, vine prunings wine... My determinator is what I have growing in my garden. Pea pod wine, rhubarb, raspberry, elderlower.


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## Hoxviii (Mar 6, 2017)

Fresh fruit - not grapes.

There are already plenty of fairly priced and good to drink grape wines on the market that it just isn't really worth it to make grape wine once you take the effort in to account, unless you're drinking a case a week in your household - then the bottle price could make sense.

There just isn't a wide enough assortment of truly enjoyable fruit wines out there; they tend to be over dry and thin or oversweet to the point of syrupy.

A nice, balanced, medium body elderberry is worth my time because I love the flavor, but hate how sweet and thick so many retail elderberry wines are. A raspberry that actually tastes like raspberries is worth my time.


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## randicoot (Mar 7, 2017)

I pick and freeze local berries because that's what I have available. Blueberries, blackberries and black raspberries. Freezing for 2 reasons--to collect enough to make something and then make whenever, and to help release the juices.

Randy


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## Boatboy24 (Mar 7, 2017)

Kits, juice and fresh fruit. 

I didn't vote because I could choose only one - I probably do all about equally.


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## stevenfox25 (Mar 7, 2017)

I generally Make mead so my selection was Honey. Orange Blossom is my go to Honey.


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## Deamondad0 (Mar 7, 2017)

*Meads!!*

So I voted Honey considering I make meads. Mostly Melomels. Since I make an unusual amount of melomels I would have to say I use a large amount of Frozen/Fresh Fruit as well, but alas the poll would only allow me to vote for one ingredient.


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## Kayts (Mar 7, 2017)

I have used 2 kits now but before them was using the wild fruits available to try..like Pin Cherry...Rhubarb..Apple..Raspberry..and now Mtn. Ash Berry...sampling this last one could be unusual and the best...I do sometimes freeze my fruits till I get enough and helps with the juice.
I want to mix some but am leery of which ones to use together and keep looking up recipes.


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## gratus_fermentatio (Mar 8, 2017)

When it comes to wine, I make fruit wine (non-grape) and mead. I've never made a grape wine & I've never made wine from a kit. I mostly use fresh fruit & for the last several years have mostly formulated my own recipes, or tweaked the recipes of others to my own preferences. Some fruits are very difficult and/or expensive to get fresh in my area, so sometimes I'll use commercially frozen fruit or commercially canned fruit/purees. Another option for difficult to procure fresh fruits is commercially bottled/canned juice.

Juices are much easier to use than fresh fruit, produce less waste, less sediment, less work & less mess. The major problem with non-grape juices though, is the lack of recipes & the difficulty of adapting existing recipes that use fresh fruit. If you're working with pure black currant juice & all the available recipes use fresh or dried black currants, it's difficult to figure out how many lbs of fruit are in 1 gallon of juice, as there is no easily available reference. Then there's the question of dilution, the recipe calls for X amount of water and fresh fruit, how much water (if any) to add to the juice? It's certainly possible to find out, it just makes things a little more difficult to start & expensive if you make a mistake.
Regards, GF.


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## Daniel1978 (Mar 8, 2017)

Standard kits


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## Gmdrp (Mar 8, 2017)

I primarily use fresh fruits. As of late though, I have been experimenting with honey.


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## JackKeller (Mar 9, 2017)

*Missing an Opportunity for More In-Depth Data*

"Doing a little industry polling for people to understand where the current market is." This statement of purpose acknowledges the poll is intended for the "industry," which is kit manufacturers/frozen bucket product suppliers/concentrate manufacturers to aid them in market awareness, which I would assume their sales data would indicate more accurately. There is nothing wrong with the poll in itself, but if you were doing the poll for all home winemakers it would be designed completely differently and would go into depth, depending on your answer to each question. For example, answering the question you actually asked with "Fresh fruit (not grapes)" could then (and only then) display a new set of selections, such as *Homegrown fruit/berries, *You-pick-it farm-grown fruit/berries, *Farmers market/co-op purchased fruit/berries, *Supermarket/produce market fruit/berries, etc. That same selection ("Fresh fruit (not grapes)") could also open up *Mostly fruit, *Mostly berries, *Fruit and berries roughly equally. Selecting *Mostly fruit could then open a list of, say, 20-25 common fruit used in winemaking with *Other being the last and allowance for selecting, say, 5, and a similar list/options for *Mostly berries. These answers might not help the kit/frozen bucket/concentrate producers, but it would be more revealing to home winemakers.


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## Scooter68 (Mar 10, 2017)

I agree with Jack Kellers comments. This is really not an effective survey other than to determine what home wine makers are using to make their wines. 

For me I use canned non-grape concentrates like Vintner Harvest only when I want to make a wine with fruit I cannot buy or find in fresh fruit form. I do not have any interest in grape based wines and I will only buy fruit concentrates IF they are 100% the labeled fruit. So any fruit concentrate that contains Apple, Grape or Pear Juice fillers I do not buy. The reason is that I want the flavor of that fruit only AND I want to know exactly how much fruit is in it. 

I can assume that sellers follow the conventions of food labeling and list the ingredients contents in the order of the percentage of content. So when a concentrate is labeled as Cherry Fruit base but the ingredient lists Apple, White Grape, Cherry juices in that order - I assume that Cherry Juice is not the primary juice in that container. The label and advertising should be 100% honest if you are selling to wine makers. Provide us the percentage of each fruit type in that container***. And of course if I see the words "Natural Flavors" that's a no sale term to me too.

*** Percentage of ingredients is very common in products why not in fruit concentrates?


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## Kayts (Mar 11, 2017)

I totally agree with Scooter68..the fruit concentrate I ordered was to mix with some fruit I had and when I got the can it had labeled all these other ingredients.....I really love making fruit wines...my latest problem is my Blackberry wine has started popping the cork 5 months after being bottled and the temp of space kept in has been high of 64..I suspect the temp might of hit 66 but still I wouldn't of expected that...any idea's


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## meadmaker1 (Mar 11, 2017)

So honey. For mead was my vote because its a constant. 
However I think I fall into a category I see in the pole of fresh/frozen fruit not grapes, and personaly never a kit. Shoot I have trouble following recipes as more than a guidline. A kit would have to be an inexpensive source of juice.


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## soccer0ww (Mar 11, 2017)

Used to do quite a few kits. Now use the grapes and fruit out of our orchard. Doesn't make much but it is enough. I would like to get into the kits again in the future. In particular the whites. They just seem to turn out so much better than the red kits I have tried.


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## Stevew1 (Mar 15, 2017)

All I make is from juice buckets. That is what I learned on. I do Chilean, California, and Italian juice, in May, September, and October. Usually about 13 or 14 buckets over the year.


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## Stevew1 (Mar 15, 2017)

Location is also a factor in what people are winemaking. I live in southern NJ just outside Philadelphia. Getting juice or grapes is simple and close to home. There are a couple well known established retailers that sell grapes, juice and ALL the necessary equipment and supplies. I have not heard of any local vineyards selling grapes to the public. All of the home winemakers I know are second generation who switched from grapes to juice buckets because it is alot less work.


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