# When you like to make wine, more than you can consume



## NorCal (Nov 12, 2018)

My hobby has caught up with me. I’m looking at 180 gallons (900 bottles) of wine in my wine box that will be bottled next year. I have friends and family that will be taking 300 or so bottles, but that still leaves too much wine. Fortunately I can store this much wine, but still too much.

I have no choice but to downshift next year, but I have so much wine making I’d like to do! I’m going to scale my winemaking, maybe I’ll buy a few 15 gallon Spiedels instead of using 60 gallon barrels. Do project carboys vs buying a macro bins of grapes.


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 12, 2018)

A good problem to have, but I hear you. I've actually scaled back production, but with family getting in on it now, supplies are 'dwindling' (I think I'm down to 25 cases, LOL!). I'm thinking of doing larger batches.


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## Johnd (Nov 12, 2018)

I’ve been planning a scale down, this is year 1 of that plan, and it was rough. I love winemaking and only made one batch, though 60 gallons a year will suffice for storage, then consumption needs.


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## mainshipfred (Nov 12, 2018)

Being new I had to scale up before I could thnk of scaling down. Between spring and fall I'll have made around 100 gallons and have 11 gallons from 2017 still bulk aging. I'll probably scale back in the spring but depending on my luck with local fall grapes It's possible I may be hitting the 100 gallon mark again. I don't drink that much but give it away to friends, family, employees and clients. As of right now I probably only have 4 or so cases bottled.


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## ibglowin (Nov 12, 2018)

It happens to the best of us. LOL Its a hard habit to break for sure!


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## Stressbaby (Nov 12, 2018)

Interesting. You're scaling down to a Spiedel and I'm scaling up to a Spiedel.


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## KevinL (Nov 12, 2018)

I just went commercial to solve that problem.


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## Bubba1 (Nov 13, 2018)

Its nice to have problems like this I made 60 gallons this year in the past have made 100 plus most seasons until the pipeline was full


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## tjgaul (Nov 13, 2018)

I have proper storage for about 400 bottles, but I'm currently sitting on closer to 500. And the carboys are mostly full (about 60 gal), at varying ages. I'm just now to the point where I feel like I can age a year or more in the carboy before going to bottle. My plan is to keep the pipeline full, while stretching out the bulk aging time. My daughter and son-in-law (aka winemaking asst) moved into a new house with a large, dry basement so the next task is to build some off-site storage so I can continue production. I have 2 of the RQ/LE kits on order for December & January so I better get to work soon. I'll be shifting to local grapes next fall so I have to plan around that starting in the spring. I think 50-60 gal per year total (grapes/kits) is about right for consumption and gift giving, with a few bottles going to the "reserve" shelf each year.


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## pgentile (Nov 13, 2018)

I've been scaling up myself. But taking a slightly different approach, to keep ahead of my consumption, I'm going with a carboy per week plan. 52 carboys, 1300 gallons. I'm at 22 carboys now. Several years from now when I hit the apogee of this plan, with medical advances I should be able to print a 3-d replacement liver.


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## tjgaul (Nov 13, 2018)

pgentile said:


> I've been scaling up myself. But taking a slightly different approach, to keep ahead of my consumption, I'm going with a carboy per week plan. 52 carboys, 1300 gallons. I'm at 22 carboys now. Several years from now when I hit the apogee of this plan, with medical advances I should be able to print a 3-d replacement liver.



Paul . . . that plan is brilliant. At that pace you won't even need to bottle! If you empty a carboy in a week I don't think oxidation will be an issue. You may be on to something here. However, you may want to wait for the 3D liver printing option to become viable before going ahead with full implementation. Cheers!


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## pgentile (Nov 13, 2018)

tjgaul said:


> Paul . . . that plan is brilliant. At that pace you won't even need to bottle! If you empty a carboy in a week I don't think oxidation will be an issue. You may be on to something here. However, you may want to wait for the 3D liver printing option to become viable before going ahead with full implementation. Cheers!


It's definitely a speculative plan.


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## mainshipfred (Nov 13, 2018)

Bubba1 said:


> Its nice to have problems like this I made 60 gallons this year in the past have made 100 plus most seasons until the pipeline was fullView attachment 52158



Next fall mine will looks like yours, all red except for one bin with a white.


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## Tom Martin (Nov 13, 2018)

Bubba1 said:


> Its nice to have problems like this I made 60 gallons this year in the past have made 100 plus most seasons until the pipeline was fullView attachment 52158


I really like your Cellar sign that is awesome. Where did you find those wire shelf wine racks, I did not know that something like that was available?


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## cmason1957 (Nov 13, 2018)

I have scaled way, way, way back. In the past I would have about 20 carboys full at any one time, doing about 120-150 gallons per year. This year I did no fall grapes, have "only" about 10 carboys with anything in them. My local fruit market called me yesterday and offered me strawberries at the best price ever - free!! just come get them and I turned them down. No starting anything new, except for a kit that is sitting in the basement, until springtime juice and then only 2 or 3 carboys for that. Of course we have about 1000 bottles sitting in the wine cellar bottled up.


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## mainshipfred (Nov 13, 2018)

cmason1957 said:


> I have scaled way, way, way back. In the past I would have about 20 carboys full at any one time, doing about 120-150 gallons per year. This year I did no fall grapes, have "only" about 10 carboys with anything in them. My local fruit market called me yesterday and offered me strawberries at the best price ever - free!! just come get them and I turned them down. No starting anything new, except for a kit that is sitting in the basement, until springtime juice and then only 2 or 3 carboys for that. Of course we have about 1000 bottles sitting in the wine cellar bottled up.



you braggin !!LOL!!


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## Bubba1 (Nov 13, 2018)

Thanks Tom


Tom Martin said:


> I really like your Cellar sign that is awesome. Where did you find those wire shelf wine racks, I did not know that something like that was available?


I got the wine racks off amazon I think there called seville racks about 100.00 or so


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## FTC Wines (Nov 14, 2018)

Tom, We got our Seville wine racks directly from Seville a few years ago. At that time it was cheaper to buy direct even with shipping from I believe Calif. I also bought extra shelving and cut them down and added them to the top for a total of 8 shelves high. Going to add oak pieces to front of posts and sides and top for a Oak Wine Rack look with metal shelves. Roy


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## sdelli (Nov 14, 2018)

My only recomendation with this is be carefull how much you make at once until you are fully satisfied yours skills have peaked. In this hobby we all get better and better each year so making too much at the front end leaves you years later wanting better. Make enough to get the pipeline going though.


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 14, 2018)

sdelli said:


> My only recomendation with this is be carefull how much you make at once until you are fully satisfied yours skills have peaked. In this hobby we all get better and better each year so making too much at the front end leaves you years later wanting better. Make enough to get the pipeline going though.



Agree wholeheartedly. I made a lot my first few years, trying to build a backlog. I just about had the backlog that I want but 1) my consumption/sharing increased and 2) even though I have older wines to drink, my younger ones are MUCH better. I have to fight with myself to go through the older stuff because I know the younger ones are still on the 'upslope' WRT quality.


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## jgmann67 (Nov 15, 2018)

I’m still trying to figure my scale out. I’m running low on properly aged wines, with about 350 bottles and 8 carboys aging. 

I thought I need to make 150-200 bottles a year. Now I’m thinking... maybe 250 is more like it. 

I have a Seville rack and could use another - use them for aging in the bottle. Then, put them out in the wine closet (holds about 500) for consumption. Least that’s the plan, subject to modification.


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## ceeaton (Nov 15, 2018)

Hmmm. Inventory time...

Guestimating 170+ bottles aging (most 24 months+), 90 gallons to bottle (~450 standard bottles). I think I'm good since my wife and I are only averaging about 3 bottles a month. Guess I had better use better quality corks in the future when bottling. Only have made two fruit based wines and one kit since this summer. I'm gravitating back to beer drinking/making. I think gravity is winning.


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## bkisel (Nov 15, 2018)

NorCal said:


> My hobby has caught up with me. I’m looking at 180 gallons (900 bottles) of wine in my wine box that will be bottled next year. I have friends and family that will be taking 300 or so bottles, but that still leaves too much wine. Fortunately I can store this much wine, but still too much.
> 
> I have no choice but to downshift next year, but I have so much wine making I’d like to do! I’m going to scale my winemaking, maybe I’ll buy a few 15 gallon Spiedels instead of using 60 gallon barrels. Do project carboys vs buying a macro bins of grapes.



I think~10 batches (6 gal/23 L) a year now keeps me at level where production approximately equals consumption and gifting.


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## Kraffty (Nov 17, 2018)

ceeaton said:


> Hmmm. Inventory time...
> 
> Guestimating 170+ bottles aging (most 24 months+), 90 gallons to bottle (~450 standard bottles). I think I'm good since my wife and I are only averaging about 3 bottles a month. Guess I had better use better quality corks in the future when bottling. Only have made two fruit based wines and one kit since this summer. I'm gravitating back to beer drinking/making. I think gravity is winning.



Whoa, gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down
Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good
And can't sustain like one half could
It's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees

.......John Mayer feels your pain


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 17, 2018)

Kraffty said:


> Whoa, gravity is working against me
> And gravity wants to bring me down
> Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good
> And can't sustain like one half could
> ...



Good song...


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## ceeaton (Nov 17, 2018)

Kraffty said:


> Whoa, gravity is working against me
> And gravity wants to bring me down
> Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good
> And can't sustain like one half could
> ...


Nice. I talk in song lyrics to one of my workmates, that was very well played! My workmate and I grew up in about the same time period, so we can usually complete the lyric that the other starts.


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## askins3097 (Nov 18, 2018)

NorCal said:


> My hobby has caught up with me. I’m looking at 180 gallons (900 bottles) of wine in my wine box that will be bottled next year. I have friends and family that will be taking 300 or so bottles, but that still leaves too much wine. Fortunately I can store this much wine, but still too much.
> 
> I have no choice but to downshift next year, but I have so much wine making I’d like to do! I’m going to scale my winemaking, maybe I’ll buy a few 15 gallon Spiedels instead of using 60 gallon barrels. Do project carboys vs buying a macro bins of grapes.



In the past I would make a lot of wine for two years then drastically scale back or stop the third year to get caught up. 

My present situation is scaling up, big time. Three years ago my wife and I decided we were going to build our house so I stopped making wine that year and we just about cleaned everything out in our little duplex basement winery. I didn’t want to have to move bulk wine or bottles. Now we’re going on our second year in our new house. I have a room in the basement for a dedicated wine cellar and production is up to full capabilities lol. I’ll be going hard for the next year or two, then it’ll probably be back to two on, one off.


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## bstnh1 (Nov 18, 2018)

Boatboy24 said:


> Agree wholeheartedly. I made a lot my first few years, trying to build a backlog. I just about had the backlog that I want but 1) my consumption/sharing increased and 2) even though I have older wines to drink, my younger ones are MUCH better. I have to fight with myself to go through the older stuff because I know the younger ones are still on the 'upslope' WRT quality.



That's the problem I run into. I usually have about 350 bottles on the shelf, many in the bottle for 4 or 5 years. Works well for the reds, but we drink mostly whites. By the time I get to the last few bottles, the whites in particular, are on the downslope! Like you, I tend to avoid them at that point which just makes matters worse!


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## joeswine (Nov 18, 2018)

When you've done this hobby for a couple of decades the phrase Less is More has real meaning.

Yet the adventures of learning and growing through trial and error as well as competition has it's own rewards.
No regrets.slowed down but still making for others a little for myself.


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## CabEnthusiast (Nov 22, 2018)

900 bottles of wine is a lot of wine.


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## NorCal (Nov 22, 2018)

I think I have a really bad plan for 2019. I want to do 15 gallons white, 15 gallons red.

I have two full French 60 barrels that I’ll be bottling. I’ll be retiring one barrel for sure. I really want to do Mourvèdre next year and I want to do 90 gallons of it; 30 gallons rose Saignee method, watered back and aciduated, with the resulting 60 gallons a full bodied, incredible flavored Mourvedre. 

Since I only want the 15 gallons of the red and none of the rose, I need to find takers for the other 30 cases. Not sure the family and friend circle can absorb that many.


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 23, 2018)

NorCal said:


> I think I have a really bad plan for 2019. I want to do 15 gallons white, 15 gallons red.
> 
> I have two full French 60 barrels that I’ll be bottling. I’ll be retiring one barrel for sure. I really want to do Mourvèdre next year and I want to do 90 gallons of it; 30 gallons rose Saignee method, watered back and aciduated, with the resulting 60 gallons a full bodied, incredible flavored Mourvedre.
> 
> Since I only want the 15 gallons of the red and none of the rose, I need to find takers for the other 30 cases. Not sure the family and friend circle can absorb that many.



Do you ship?


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## SethF (Nov 23, 2018)

FTC Wines said:


> Tom, We got our Seville wine racks directly from Seville a few years ago. At that time it was cheaper to buy direct even with shipping from I believe Calif. I also bought extra shelving and cut them down and added them to the top for a total of 8 shelves high. Going to add oak pieces to front of posts and sides and top for a Oak Wine Rack look with metal shelves. Roy


Can you please clarify what you did with the Seville rack? I have one, and was planning on adding 2 more at some point.


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## FTC Wines (Nov 24, 2018)

Seth, What we did was buy 4 Seville racks. Only had room for 3 side by side so... This was planned, I cut the 4th rack into 3rds with a 4” cut off wheel in a angle grinder. Then found some 1/2” cpvc water pipe in the garage that fit perfectly inside the Seville posts. Drilling holes in the Back side of the posts I screwed the post to the plastic pipe. Now the racks are 10 shelves high ilo the standard 6. They are screwed securely to the wall. I am adding oak facing to the racks, clamped one piece in place so you could get the idea. See pic, if you have more questions please ask. Roy


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## SethF (Nov 24, 2018)

Well done!

Thank you.


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## FTC Wines (Nov 24, 2018)

Seth, guess I can’t count or remember lol, the shelving is 8 rows high, Not 10! Like stated. Roy


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