# What's Your Winemaking Story?



## TxBrew (Jan 15, 2017)

What is your winemaking story?

When and how did you get involved in the hobby?

What was your first setup like and what is your current setup like?

How many batches have you done?

Where has the hobby taken you?


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## Arne (Jan 15, 2017)

Years ago I brought home a dwarf cherry tree. After a few years it went ballistic producing. Kathy got all she wanted for pies and I decided to do something with the rest so they wouldn't go to waste (they don't go to waste the birds get them). Anyway tried making some wine. Don't know where the recipe came from, but managed to make something we could drink. Wasn't the best but decided I could do better. Did some internet research, found this place and Jack kellers got a few books from the library, and started fermenting whatever I could find. More cherries the next year and the wine was better. Kept rolling downhill from there. Have a couple of spiral tablets with wines that have been made. My notes are not the best, but I can usually figure out what was done as they are pretty much all the same after the main ingredients have been added. Just wish I could make a few wines that Kathy wouldn't make the terrible face and say "It has that taste I don't really like." Don't know what the taste is and she can't really tell me either, so I pretty well get to enjoy them myself. Here is to a great winemaking year for you all. Arne.


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## Stressbaby (Jan 15, 2017)

I have a greenhouse in which I grow a variety of tropical fruit trees. I needed something to do with the oversupply of starfruit and guava so decided to make wine. I found a recipe online, made guava wine and it was terrific, and I was hooked. 

I've made about 96 batches, and of those 90 were made directly from fruit I either grew or collected locally. The others consist of 3 batches of DB, 1 kit, 1 pail, and 1 from California grapes. 

What I've found is that it that I enjoy winemaking from grapes much more than fruit winemaking. So this spring I'm installing a vineyard of 120 vines. Hopefully in a few years I'll have more grapes than I can use.


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## NorCal (Jan 15, 2017)

Moved into a community that had 20 acres of communal vines. I wanted to be involved, so I joined the vineyard committee and one of the members made his own wine. He showed me the ropes in 2013 and I went independent the next year.


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## Johny99 (Jan 15, 2017)

Bought 7 acres and found a grape vine growing in what otherwise had been an orchard. Didn't want an orchard, so a vineyard sounded nice My wife had been in the wine business most of her career. Those two things led to conversations with local winemakers and next thing you know I started planting, 2008. Next thing you know my dad digs out stuff he had in the 60's when he made dandelion wine. How could I not? I did a couple of kits to see what it was all about then found local fresh grapes and the insanity started! 

Now it is the present sleepy time of the year!


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## Bodenski (Jan 15, 2017)

I have a brother and a brother-in-law who keep posting their homebrew beer adventures on Facebook. I'm not much of a beer drinker, so I made an apple cider. Reading through all the forums on that made me interested in making wine, which I would drink more of. So I figured "why not?"

Everything except the cider has been one gallon batches. One kit (Pinot Noir), and a lot of different country wines (DB, Blackberry port, blueberry, cranberry, cran-apple) and one mead. So far it's been using frozen fruit from Walmart for the most part, but this summer I plan on seeking out fresh fruit for my next batch of experiments.


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## Ajmassa (Jan 15, 2017)

TxBrew, Mr Administrator Sir, kudos on this topic idea. Always intrigued by the story. Anxious to read. And can't wait to post When I have some more free time. (I can be very sentimental on this topic. No judgments)


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## mikewatkins727 (Jan 15, 2017)

The year was 1968, in the USAF and stationed at Lowry AFB, Denver, CO. One day my supervisor said "Mike, you every make wine? I have this recipe . . ." I bit. First run was Welches grape juice, 1 gal glass jug, 1/4 tsp of bread yeast, several cups of sugar and a balloon. Being in the military I moved a bit so I just tinkered with it for 15 years or so. After retiring from Air Force I wound up in norther CA but didn't have an appropriate building for a cellar. Have since moved back to OH and have built up a nicer setup. I make mostly fruit wines.


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## Mismost (Jan 15, 2017)

My Dad could do anything...50 years ago he tried to make a batch of wine with the balloon...wound up with 5 gallons of vinegar...he failed. That he failed at it stuck with me. Couple of years ago I thought I would try it. Started with one gallon beers, then five gallon batches and I am not even a beer drinker...well, I will drink a six pack a year or so even if I don't need too!

Thought wine would be better. Started with 5's of frozen apple and grape...it was OK. Then kits and they were better. Found this site and read all of Joe's Tweaks and haven't looked back. Thirty gallon sitting glass, another 18 gallons waiting on deck...working big kits, then fast drinkers. Have not had to dump a batch yet and Dad really enjoys my products!

To me it's like cooking in slow motion and I love cooking. Love watching the bubbles too. I work out of my house and a lot of days it's just me and the wine....i"m clicking on the computer, it's clicking the airlocks...decent company really.


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## JohnT (Jan 16, 2017)

A couple of years ago, we had a series called "in the Vintners Chair". I liked that series and vote that it should make a triumphant return.. 

Most have probably already read this. Most probably could care less, but here is the one they did on me...

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/winemaker-interview-john-tevald-johnt.html


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 16, 2017)

JohnT said:


> A couple of years ago, we had a series called "in the Vintners Chair". I liked that series and vote that it should make a triumphant return..
> 
> Most have probably already read this. Most probably could care less, but here is the one they did on me...
> 
> http://www.winemakingtalk.com/winemaker-interview-john-tevald-johnt.html



All of those interviews and articles seem to be hidden now. Would be nice if they showed back up.


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## memojo (Jan 16, 2017)

*First Post*

I started making wine in 2006 and probably have made over 35 batches, from 1 Gal. to 6 Gal..My first was Welches and was pretty good if I must say so. Probably my most interesting of all was my Carrot Wine. 
I have been competing at the local fair with my wines for about 8 years. I have several 1st. place ribbons and a Reserve Grand Champion, Chocolate Raspberry, (kit). I received a Grand Champion rosette for a Dandelion the second year I entered. This was a lot of work and will probably not make anymore. Too old to scoot around on the ground to get the petals, takes 44 lightly packed cups of petals to make a 6 Gal. batch. One secret to collecting the petals...pick the dandelion at mid day (full bloom) and pick no more than you can process that day. Don't refrigerate. You don't need to try and collect and process the petals all in one day...process and measure and put in the freezer until you have accumulated 44 cups.
I primarily make fruit wines. I don't pay for any fruit I get for the taking, ....donating a bottle or 2 to fruit grower.


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## styxx3805 (Jan 16, 2017)

*6 yr veteran*



TxBrew said:


> What is your winemaking story?Moved into my current place with established Concord and Lebanon grape vines. Made my first wine of both kinds mixed. It was OK. Nothing to brag about. Then I took my rhubarb and strawberries and made a batch. And wow it was really good. My friend had currants that went to waste every year so I tried that and my alcohol content was10%. Then a bumper crop year of blackberries into wine they went. Excellent and everybody loves it. This year I only picked the Concord and their sugar content was high, used have to sugar and have a 13% alcohol . Wonderful wine soon to go into bottles.
> 
> When and how did you get involved in the hobby?Started making wine with dandelions with my grandmother in the 1980's. Dabbled here and there, cherry wine, elderberry, choke cherry and elderberry.
> 
> ...


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## winojoe (Jan 16, 2017)

What is your winemaking story?
...read below

When and how did you get involved in the hobby?
I started making both wine and beer in January of 2002. Started with wine kits, and then quickly graduated to Fresh Grape Juice in the Fall of 2002. Being from Detroit area, I searched for local fresh grape juice. Not being able to find any, I set my sights on Canada and found a place called Erie Shore Vineyards. I was only a 20 minute drive after crossing the Ambassador Bridge. I bought 5 gallon buckets of freshly-pressed Baco Noir, Vidal and Riesling. They turned out great. Especially the Baco Noir, which was like drinking a meal. It was very bold. So, I went back for more the following season (2003). The price per bucket went up, but I bought the juice anyway. I went back there the next season (2004) and was really surprised that the price went up significantly. Five buckets cost me $300+. That was when I decided to continue my search in the U.S.A.

I found a place in Detroit called California Wine Grapes Company, and bought a bucket of juice from them. They were not friendly people. Actually, rather nasty to the customers. Guess that comes with being the only place in town to purchase buckets of grape juice. Because of this, I continued my search to find another place.

It is now the fall of 2005, and I found a place near Youngstown, Ohio called Luva Bella Juice Company. It was 4 hours away. After talking to a bunch of guys in my homebrewing club (I joined a brewing club in 2002, called The Pontiac Brew Tribe), I took the trip to get 20 buckets. We split the cost of fuel amongst the 20 buckets. I did this for the Spring (Chilean Juice) and Fall (California and Italian Juice) for the next couple years. The owner of the place, Frank, kept telling me he needed someone to start a business in Michigan selling his juice. In 2007, my wife and I decided to give it a try. So, we created a company (Macomb Vintner Supply LLC) and started taking orders that Fall. We sold exactly 300 buckets of grape juice out of my garage. The business rapidly expanded. Two years later, in the Fall of 2009, we had to find somewhere else since the garage could not handle the quantities, and the subdivision rules "forbid" running a business out of the house. I cut a deal with a friend who had a building and paid him to use it on a few certain weekends of the year. He went out of business in 2012, so I had to get my own building. We are now up to 5+ truck loads of grape juice each year selling both buckets and drums. This includes both Spring and Fall. Customers are home winemakers, wineries, meaderies and breweries.

What was your first setup like and what is your current setup like?
First set-up was as basic as one could get.
Current set-up is more sophisticated (I am an electrical/computer engineer by trade). It includes enolmatic bottle filler, pneumatic corker (modified italian floor corker), stainless VV tank, etc. Not much to really automate with wine, but you should see the automation on the beer brewing set-up. 

How many batches have you done?
I lost count.

Where has the hobby taken you?
My wife and I are opening a winery. It is located in Sterling Heights, Michigan (a northern burb of Detroit). Name of the winery is: Buon Amici Winery, and should be fully operational by April 2017


I believe the achievements made in my life are by the grace of God, and treating the customers with the respect they deserve.


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## dvivster (Jan 16, 2017)

*Avid hard cider brewer*

I began innocently ordering a little juice brewing pack from Amazon. It was just a packet of yeast and fermenter to add to a bottle of juice. That's what led me to learning about real hard cider brewing and visiting my local wine shop. I have brewed many great batches and my next experiment will be with hopped cider,


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## BABRU (Jan 16, 2017)

*Black Raspberry Wine*

About 7 years ago our visiting friend sitting poolside suggested that the black raspberries growing behind the pool would make a fine wine. Seems he had been raised in a wine making family and had been making his own wine for years. I picked about 30 pounds of raspberries and went shopping for sugar while he went home for a primary, airlock and misc. additives. Soon I had wine fermenting under the back yard oak tree. He returned several weeks later and we transferred it to a 6 gallon jug that I moved into the kitchen for about a year or so while I saved wine bottles and waited for his return to show me the bottling process. We bottled 30 and drank about 2. That turned out to be a great first wine and now I make about 7 to 9 six gallon batches a year, 1 or two from black raspberries, 4 or 5 from fresh juice and 2 or 3 from kits. I make my raspberry and juice wines to be dry, allowing them to clear naturally in the secondary by racking 3 or 4 times over about a year's time. I currently have 6 - 6 gallon carboys in various stages with 2 that will be ready for bottling in April (juice from Chile). I make sweet wines from kits for friends who prefer the sweeter wines. Boosting an Island Mist kit with a liter of juice concentrate and 3 - 4 pounds of sugar makes wines that are very popular with the sweet wine folks. I made a chocolate raspberry wine expert desert wine that goes real fast too. I bottled it in standard 750ml bottles which was probably a mistake because it turns out to be a relatively expensive bottle of high power wine. Currently there are about 360 bottles in the cellar of about 10 different types. Since family has found the cellar it has become increasingly more difficult to keep various wines in stock. But that's ok.


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## ohgeo (Jan 17, 2017)

I started home brewing beer in 2012. Had excellent batches so I decided to branch out into wine. I have fruit trees at my home and always had excess fruit with no purpose. So in late 2012 I started a 5 gallon batch of pear wine and 1 gal plum wine from my grandmother's tree. Unfortunately those first batches turned sour because I let the airlocks go dry, forgetting about the carboys in the basement. I vowed to never let that happen again!

Two years later I met my fiancee. We both love wine. So the winemaking started up again. That Fall we had about 40 gallons going at once. Pear wine, apple and honey wine, concord grape wine, Dragon's Blood, Tropical Daze. It's all turned out good. I got serious about the science and technique. Last season we started some blueberry wine and an apple wine. Fruit production was bad on my trees so it was a slow Fall. Next season we are going to get juice from the local wineries to expand our variety of wine styles. 

As for equipment I started with the basics. Haven't got too fancy but added a vacuum pump for degassing, and a floor corker for bottling. And of course more carboys. You can never have enough!

We definitely have the winemaking bug. Chris and I love to cook, so winemaking is a natural extension of that. We like to try new recipes and modify them to our tastes. We've visited so many wineries we've lost count. We've even started to source some land with the intention of starting a small winery. 

I love this hobby!


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## wpt-me (Jan 17, 2017)

I started back in the early '70's when they made those little plastic jugs kits in the dept. stores.
Life got in the way and got away from doing it. Several years ago G.F. got a wine making kit for
Christmas.I enjoy making a kit now and then, but really have fun doing different fruit juices.
Most interesting wine ever made was a rose hip made from can of puree.

Bill


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## Merrywine (Jan 17, 2017)

For me the adventures in fermentation started with a batch of sour kraut that I made in a glass gallon pickle jar. The idea of making beer at home had hatched several years before, but a lack of space and time prevented me from doing any until about 2 years ago. 

So the kraut was successful I had drilled a hole in the lid for a bung and airlock. (Why buy why we can DIY?) I used this jar for my first small mead. I chose mead because it seemed pretty straight forward and the ingreduant list was short. It was very drinkable and following a couple more batches of tasty mead, beer and gallon wine kits followed.

Right now I have a Merlot bulk aging about ready for bottling and a mulberry (fruit I harvested the fruit) mead in secondary. Had a very sweet Cyser for gift giving this past Christmas and find my friends and family enjoy these, and I certainly can't drink all of the end product myself! 

So will I ever be a great wine maker with my own fruit trees or vineyard? Probably not, but I am enjoying myself and after about 2.5 years in the hobby I've only had one mixed fruit cider that is just not drinkable.


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## milehiscott (Jan 17, 2017)

My parents had 2 Concord grape vines in the back yard. One year we had more jelly than we could handle sitting in the pantry. My parents had some friends over for a summer gathering. One of them looked at the vines and asked, “What do you do with these? Make wine?” The next day my dad and I found a store and began learning how to make wine. We did this for a number of years until my dad developed a sulfide allergy.
Now, many years later, I have my own home and family and I miss fermenting things. So, I have recently resumed the hobby. My wife and daughter are not sure what they think of the process, but my wife likes the end product.
Due to age, I have had to replace some of the equipment. So my gear is somewhat cobbled together. I have only used fresh fruit in the past. This year I bought a kit for the first time. Right now I have 6 gallons of Merlot finishing.


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## Brickhouse (Jan 17, 2017)

I'm new to the site and the hobby, so the story isn't interesting, but nevertheless here it is:

I'm an avid cigar enthusiast. For around 15 years it's been my largest hobby, occupying the majority of both my time and money. I love to research all that goes into it, from growing to rolling. I've traveled the world in support of that hobby to learn more.

But ultimately, the research and knowledge is as far as it gets. It's a bridge too far to grow your own tobacco, harvest, blend it and roll it. It just won't work out well. It's not something that can be done on the personal scale. Enter in brewing. I say brewing because my interest initially started with beer, however, I could not go down that road because I recently stopped drinking beer as it was just awful on my stomach.

One day I was out buying wine for my girlfriend and I, as we love to go through multiple bottles per evening when the weather is right. I text her a picture of about 12 bottles and jokingly said "we need to start making our own wine". She replied with "let's give it a go!". So here I am. I bought a pretty hefty starter kit and dove into the world of wine making. There's many similarities in this hobby as my cigar hobby, but what I really like about this one is that I can get my hands in it. It adds a whole new perspective on it.

I am so new that I don't currently have any finished batches, but I have a Pinot Noir that is now in the bulk aging phase (6 gal), another Pinot Noir about to be racked to secondary, and a Malbec on deck. My plan is to have something going to bottle every 3 months. My first batch will be young at 3 months age, 2nd a bit more at 6 months age, 3rd batch will sit 9 months, and 4th will go 12 months.

So without a finished batch, I'm sitting with 5 carboys on hand and plans to get my production out to 12 months aging....we'll see how it works out.


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## joeswine (Jan 17, 2017)

I remember that story johnt and as I stated before many times please repeat it,it would be go for the winemaker's to help understand heritage stories.


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## Dhaynes (Jan 18, 2017)

My wife & I are empty nesters. We woke up one day and realized that we didn't have very many common interest anymore so we started looking for something we could enjoy doing together. We were interested in making wine but the nearest shop where you could get lessons and ferment a kit at their facility was 90 miles away. 

One day I got a Living Social promo for a wine starter kit from Midwest Supply. We had an anniversary coming up so I ordered it and had it shipped to my brothers. I snuck the giant heavy box with all the equipment and a WE VR juice kit in the house and wrapped it. On the morning of our anniversary I drug it into the bedroom and presented it to her. I have a bit of a reputation as a prankster so she was sure this giant present was a joke of some kind. It didn't help when she opened the box and the first thing she pulled out was the plastic carboy. She had that look on her face like "What is this fool doing giving me a giant empty water bottle?" It just got worse as she proceeded to pull out plastic tubing, a giant spoon, a racking cane and then a big plastic bucket. It wasn't until she saw the juice kit in the bottom that she finally figured out it wasn't a joke. That was about 5 years ago. We've been going full bore ever since. 

At first we had to clean and sanitize everything in the bathroom because the bath tube was the only thing big enough to wash a Cabot. Of course the carboy got wet and began to multiply. Before long we had like eighteen 6gal Better Bottles, two 5gal and five 3gal as well as ten 5 gal glass carboys that we got a deal on from another wine maker but almost never use. 

About 2 years ago we decided to modify a section of the garage to make a wine making area. We put in a deep plastic laundry room sink with a hand sprayer and the biggest vent hood we could find to exhaust out the Kmeta fumes. The sink was cheap. There was a half bath about 10 feet away with a crawl space so getting it hooked up wasn't bad. The most expensive part was the vent hood and the large duct work needed to handle the volume of air plus having to rip open the ceiling to run the vent to an outside wall. But, it was worth every penny. We bought an inexpensive workbench that we caught on sale at Harbor Freight for like $79. We put up some peg board and a few little other things. It has made an amazing difference. No more lugging dirty carboys up two flights of stairs, breaking your back trying to wash them out in the bath tub or being overcome with fumes while sanitizing. The next project will be walling off part of the garage for a cold room but for now we are stashing bottles everywhere we can. We have around 300 bottles put up. We have to be careful opening closets and cabinets for fear of being buried under an avalanche of bottles.

At first we did mostly VR and Island Mist kits and build up our wine supply. Now we do mostly Eclipse and Selection kits with an occasional IM or VR kit to replenish some of our favorites. Right now we have 10 batches that have been bulk aging between 9-15 months. Just racked and sulfited 7 Eclipse kits in preparation for bottling including a Nebiollo, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Zin, Cab Sav, Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay. Also have a VR Cab Sav, a Selection Luna Biancia and a batch of Dragons Blood to get ready to bottle.

About two years ago I volunteered to help run The Winemakers Academy website and FaceBook users group. I am now the co-moderator for both. 

We probably give away about as much wine as we drink which seems to make us very popular with family and friends.


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## Ajmassa (Jan 20, 2017)

I grew up with winemaking as a norm in a lot of family members homes. And in a neighborhood in Philadelphia where on 1 block there were 4 different homes of family within shouting distance of each other. About mid 80's. 
These old school Italians were 1st generation and one was off the boat. (Great grandparents). We couldn't be any more stereotypical. All got together for a big Spaghetti n meatball dinner every Sunday. Kids runnin around getting yelled at in Italian by grandma (no clue what she was saying). Slapped with wooden spoon for dipping finger into sauce that was on stovetop all day long. Women in the kitchen. 
Behind the houses was the family's concrete business' yard with the big machines. We lived above the garages built into an apartment. I could go on and on. 
I don't remember my great grandfather, but I remember his wine cellar with 2 big oak barrels, a hand crank big ol' crusher, and a GIANT tub sink with a spigot. I remember this wine room being the most impressive. All year smelling of fermenting must, even if it was all empty. 
A few years they even involved all us kids in the process. And had us stomping away. Good times. 
Cut to 10-20 years later, as a teenager and into my 20's I was always helping my father with his annual batch. With the older family mostly gone I think he felt the need to keep the wine going. 
Now that he is getting older he has gradually scaled down to only 5 gallons a year. With none of my other 3 brothers getting into winemaking, I took it upon myself to not just help him with his batches but now make my own. 
We get our juice every September from the same place the old guys used to go to way back when. Procaccio Brothers in south Philly near the stadiums. It's a produce supplier all year, and they do the grape juice in season as well as limited equipment. This place was all I knew at first. Used Their yeast. Their equipment. Their direction. And didn't think twice. 
Helping him all those years only got me so far. As a kid I never bothered to ask "why" about anything. As an adult making wine on my own I finally started asking my dad why he did this. And why he does that. And he didn't know. He didn't care. He just liked doing it. But he never got too deep into it. 
After a few years of making wine on my own without help I just couldn't deal with his way anymore. Just blindly doing it a certain way. If Everything goes perfect then great. If you have to troubleshoot your screwed. And that's what happened. I had a batch with bad bacteria and had no idea how to save it, or even if I could save it. And down the rabbit hole of researching I went. Which eventually led me to here. Which then led me to kits as well. Couldn't be happier I am Still brought back to that time of my life every time I walk down to the basement and smell that familiar smell of primaries cookin away. 
AJ


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 20, 2017)

@Ajmassa5983: I used to have that same pic as my avatar. Nice choice. I enjoyed reading about your winemaking journey.


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## ceeaton (Jan 20, 2017)

AJ, I've looked at Procaccio Brothers' website every Fall and drool. Only problem is that it is a 5 hour trip up and back. My Grandpa/ma used to live on Chestnut street (where my Dad was born) though they hailed from Northcentral PA originally. Nice you live so close. Use those kits to learn how to use that nice juice and grapes they sell, then go get a small batch. Next year get a bigger batch. Eventually you can follow the truck and get what falls off the back like @JohnT . Your a special guy to honor the family tradition, Kudos to you and your family!


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## Ajmassa (Jan 20, 2017)

I'm not sure where their juice would fall on the high/low quality scale. My impression was that they were pretty legit. And not too expensive either. 

I did it backwards. Made juice batches. Some good. Some not as good. Then later decided to fully commit to this and absorb as much info as possible. And will get this juice better every year I hope with practice in between seasons with kits now. 
5 hours is just a tad over the travel time threshold for just one stop. Suggestion? Make a weekend out of it. Take off work Friday. Plan something fun. Catch a ballgame with the kids Saturday. Citizens bank park is very kid friendly. (I suggest a Phils game w/ kids. Def not Eagles for kids) Then wake up Sunday, grab your juice, and then be home by dinnertime. 
I used to LOVE going there as a kid. (Unlike going to 9th st Italian market. Ya know. The vendor street where Rocky ran. With random metal trash can fires goin. I hated how bad it smelled!) they have a few tables set up to taste different wines made from the year before. With some bread, pepperoni, cheese, etc... haven't changed their setup in my lifetime (aside from moving up the street to a bigger building) and I prefer it that way. Do it!


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## Siwash (Jan 21, 2017)

My father taught me. He came from southern Italy (Calabria) in 1953 at the age of 17 via trans-Atlantic ship. He made wine off and on. My folks were in the food catering business here in Canada, so some years we just had lots of commercial wine hanging around and didn't make it. 

When he arrived in Canada he made wine with his other Italian buddies in a cellar of a triplex apartment they rented! Their Jewish landlord was apprehensive at first but trusted them enough! I think in those days it was very rare for people to make wine at home. Anyhow there were Italian grapes vendors bringing grapes in from California and they'd buy in from local corner grocery stores!

Fast-forward to today, he's since long retired and has been making it consistently for a couple of decades now. We bought more equipment over the years together and it has become a September tradition.. Not always the best wine - he's old school and keeps his wine-making very simple - no adjustments, wild yeast and about the only thing he's every added is a packet of So2!

I've since taken it to "another level" and have implemented more techniques, additives and adjustments.. although not sure if it is any better.. just different!

We still do it together and at 80 years old, he has taken on some of my more "modern" approaches! We're now testing his wine for PH, TA and So2.

I love hearing his stories about his childhood wine making. His dad would use the same huge oak barrel year after year. The washing technique was a hoot- he and his older brothers would take the barrel down to the beach (they lived along the Ionian seacoast not far from Sicily) and they'd pour sea water into the barrel and throw in a large chain and they'd roll it and shake it together. The salt water would "disinfect" and the chain exposed new wood!

Good times... Salute!!


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## Ajmassa (Jan 23, 2017)

Siwash, seems like many similarities in our stories. I don't know about you, but seeing how the old timers did it and how non-technical they were about many different things really gives me a better perspective in how I approach winemaking as a whole. 
Their finished product was always good, and I've never seen a batch ruined. Sometimes I have to catch myself from getting hung-up on specific details and remember that all these things I worry about that they didn't are not going to make-or-break my batch. Just slightly alter it. Enjoyed your story. 
Saluté


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## soccer0ww (Jan 29, 2017)

We has planted a few grape vines many years ago. My wife did make grape jelly from the grapes for years but finally got tired of that. So we started trying to make wine. The grapes we have are nothing fancy probably concord or a variety like that that is very cold hardy. 
We have also planted some cherry trees which have been rather fruitful. They are pie cherries so the the wine from these trees is rather tart but have a nice cherry flavor.

We get around 4-5 gallons of juice from the grapes, and when I make the cherry wine we make 5 gallon batches as well. 

Don't have a nice fancy setup like some of the others on this forum. Just primary fermenting buckets, carboys for long term aging and storage. Only have a hydrometer at this point, really want to get a good meter for pH, TA, SO and all that good stuff so I can improve the final product. I would say one good investment has been the floor stand corking machine for when I bottle. Makes it so much easier and quicker than the old hand model. 

Still find it fun to take the fruit and make something decent to drink. Have done a fair number of kits, and find the white kits go over much better than the Red kits. I think the Red kits turn out much better with the tweeks that many of the wine makers here are doing. I have to start trying more tweeks and see if the final product improves.


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## Pittsburgh127 (Jan 31, 2017)

I started in 1988. My daughter was born, my wife was still in school, we had just spent our entire paltry life savings on a house and were trying to furnish it. After all expenses, we had very little left over to support our wine habit. I considered a life of crime, but decided to pinch enough pennies to buy some second hand equipment and a cheap wine kit. It was good and the rest is history. I'm now financially secure enough to buy whatever wine I want, but still make almost all of what I drink. I mostly make eclipse kits and juice buckets, but sometimes experiment. I have no idea how many 6 gallon batches I've made, but its definitely in the hundreds. I launched 16 kits and 5 buckets in 2016. It was a busy year.


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## baron4406 (Jan 31, 2017)

Mine is kinda strange. Became a "home distiller" and that was my passion for many years. Then got into beer making. A good friend was a winemaker and got me into the hobby. Now I exclusively make wine.


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## GreenEnvy22 (Jan 24, 2018)

We bought a house in 2012 that had around 30 muscat vines in the back yard. The first year i have all the grapes to a friend who made wine from it, he got half, we got half.
The next 2 years I didn't do anything with them. Some time around then my wife bought me a 1 gallon brew your own beer kit which turned out well, but I didn't do anything else. With a 3 and 1yr old at home i was plenty busy.
My wife's extended family are all grape growers here in Niagara region, so I was exposed to the idea and had access to some equipment. 
In 2015 i decided to try making my own. I got lots of carboys and other equipment on Kijiji (think craigslist), borrowed a press from a friend, and got to it. I also bought a Riesling juice bucket that year from a local farmer.
Then one of the relatives with all the grape fields asked me if I'd make some wine for him from his grapes, this is a very sweet Dornfelder he makes for his mom. He was too busy that year. So I made it too.
Got about 90 bottles of the Muscat, 24 Riesling, and 140 bottles of the Dornfelder (i kept 4 cases of that).

All of those wines turned out OK, so in 2016 I made it again. Less yield from the Muscat, only like 24 bottles. For the Dornfelder though, I wanted to make the portion I kept for myself as a normal dry red, so I did that, it was my first red wine.

2017 I again did Muscat since we have the grapes and love the flavour, but got into fruit wines. We got a bunch of free peaches so made peach wine, made a dragons blood variant, cherry wine. Instead of the Dornfelder I was given some Cab Sauv, so did that. Also got some free coronation grapes we mostly made jams with, but made some wine with that too. I also bought a bucket of Kerner juice, trying that out. 
I've made a couple apple ciders along the way too, my wife loves those.

For 2018 looking forward to even more variety. There are some wild Mulberry trees in the area I'd like to pick from, and I'd like to try a mead too. I'd love to try distilling at some point too, as I've developed a taste for whiskey, but currently thats a no-go here.

Our cellar in the basement had some benches, the guy that owned the house before me apparently made wine too judging by all the staining. So that helped me get going too. I've since upgraded the cellar. Half the cellar is for wine making, the other half is for all the canned jams/salsas/fruits and the like my wife and I make each year. We have a large (for the city) vegetable garden which keeps us busy in the summer.


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## dralarms (Jan 24, 2018)

My winemaking story began when my dad passed, went to his funeral and my brother was making "wine", brought a little back with me but couldn't drink it, just over a year later my mom passed so had to go back home and my brother was still making his wine. Convinced me to try it and it was better but not by much. 

Well you know how brothers are, I told my wife I bet I could make better wine than him and I got started reading, learning and buying stuff. Well my brother has said my wine is better than his and I helped him improve his stuff.


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## sour_grapes (Jan 24, 2018)

dralarms said:


> Well you know how brothers are, I told my wife I bet I could make better wine than him and I got started reading, learning and buying stuff. Well my brother has said my wine is better than his and I helped him improve his stuff.



I like that story!  I can just picture it! (I do have several brothers....)


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## Jal5 (Jan 24, 2018)

Thanks for the link to LuvaBella. Will definitely be making a trip from Steubenville to Youngstown this year!

Joe



winojoe said:


> What is your winemaking story?
> ...read below
> 
> When and how did you get involved in the hobby?
> ...


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## Jal5 (Jan 24, 2018)

I started about 30 yrs. ago and made fruit wines from any fruit I could obtain for free or almost free! I did 5 gal. batches of pear, grape, and a couple of other fruit wines I cannot remember now. Everyone agreed that the pear was the best. Fast forward to last year when I retired and hadn't done any winemaking since those earlier years. I tried one of the kit wines in 6 gal. last fall valpolicella type and just bottled it recently. Will need to age it a while I think. I can't wait to try my next batch. Will be something along the lines of DragonBlood, something we can drink sooner rather than later. I will also try a source for fresh wine juice I just found on here that isn't too far away from home.


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## PandemoniumWines (Jan 26, 2018)

My hubby kept trying to talk me into making wine, but I didn't want to because I didn't want 30 bottles or whatever of one flavor. He's a brewer himself.

But, one day, I attended a Canine Cancer 5K with my youngest sheepdog, his predecessor having passed away from osteosarcoma, and they had a silent auction going on. In it was a little starter kit. Hubby bid on it, and won. We bastardized the crap out of that kit, having no idea what we were doing, and ultimately dumped that first batch.

Now I make whatever suits my fancy, generally in 1 gallon containers but on occasion I make larger batches, and I call my wines "Pandemonium Wines" because my youngest sheepdog's name is Pandemonium, and it reminds me of my last sheepdog and where I got started in wine making.


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## mainshipfred (Jan 27, 2018)

I never cared for wine until about 4 years ago when my company won a contract to build a 12,000 sf Tasting Building for an existing Winery. In talking with the Owner and Winemaker I found the process to be very interesting. To add to the education the basement level was to be a cheese making facility so there was milk and cows involved and we were asked to build a Class A dairy barn. The entire experience perculated in my head until 2 Christmas's ago when I asked for a wine making equipment kit. I'm a year and a month into it now and just wish I had started sooner.


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## benchmstr (Feb 2, 2018)

I really like to drink...plus, I am a habitual adventurer...so it was only natural

the bench


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## Trevor7 (Feb 2, 2018)

A co-worker broke out a bottle of Tempranillo that he made one evening before dinner and after the first sip, my curiosity was piqued. He introduced me to the hobby. I did 6 kits last year, and am ready to launch my 2nd of 2018. My start into grapes and/or juice will hopefully happen at harvest time this year. Like @benchmstr, I enjoy drinking my product.


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## Doug’s wines (Feb 2, 2018)

For the last several years, I was in a high travel job. For example one year I spent only 32 nights at home. I enjoyed wine with dinner as I traveled internationally and began to realize how much nuance and variety was in the wine world. Because I was traveling so much, my wife began to travel with me and we began to seek out vineyards and wineries around the globe as our “down time hobby” while traveling. Eventually all good things come to an end and after about 8 years I am no longer in that global role (to be honest, it was killing me) so I decided that I would try to replicate some of the wines I’ve tasted. I’ve mainly been doing higher end kits (En Primeur, Eclipse) that interest us, and recently ordered a bunch of cheap kits to try my hand at tweaking (thanks @joeswine for hooking me). I’m hoping to do some fresh grapes this year or at least a few juice buckets. Given I know what so many of these wines should taste like, I’m not sure yet that my kits are going to hit the mark, but I am hopeful that a little more age might get them there.


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## Monty Knapp (Apr 12, 2018)

Drank local wine for several years - Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, in the 80's and 90's.
Decided to try making wine myself, but only used recipes, usually based on Welch's concentrates. Just followed the recipe without any real understanding of the process. The only instrument I used was a hydrometer. Some turned out good, most didn't.
The local community college offered classes on wine, but held them off campus since we would be sampling the wines. Learned a lot about wines and could no longer stand the taste of my homemade wines, after 3 semesters of good wine. So I quit making wine and started collecting wine usually purchased from area wine shops.
Traveled to places like Italy, England, and France and brought back many bottles of wine before it became prohibited.
After I retired 3.5 years ago I found that kits were available that contained juice from the best wine regions of the world, so I decided to give it another try. Only been at it this time for about 1 year. Made a low end Merlot from Winexpert (Vintners Reserve). Wasn't thrilled with it, but now that's it's a year old, it's passable.
Made a Winexpert Eclipse kit - Sauvignon Blanc. It turned out great.
Right now I have a Winexpert Eclipse Shiraz (Barossa Valley, Australia) bulk aging and just started a Winexpert Eclipse Riesling (Columbia Valley, Washington). Next is an RJS Super Tuscan.
In between these kits I've made five 3 gallon batches of Dragon's Blood wine using different fruits. Very happy with them all.
Enjoying winemaking much more the second time around because I'm making good wine. This time I've tried to learn much more about the process and using more testing equipment and test kits - hydrometer, pH meter, TA titration kit, and SO2 kit.
AND I'm becoming very popular with my friends!


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## skyfire322 (Apr 13, 2018)

A few years ago, I was jobless and came across a Craigslist job posting for a 'wine educator'. I decided to apply, and got the job! I worked in the tasting room for a few months, and during crush time, I'd help the winemaker. The more and more we talked, the more and more I got interested in the actual winemaking process; particularly the science behind it. 

That next spring, they moved me downstairs and had the job title of cellar assistant. Ultimately they had to let me go because of financial reasons, and I ended up moving to Indiana where I now work in Tech Support. I never lost that passion for winemaking, and ended up purchasing the beginner kits.

I'm currently on my second homemade batch and I only have one carboy, but once I move into the new house next month, I plan on expanding just a little bit. My ultimate dream is to run my own vineyard, but I don't think that'll ever be possible. One can dream though!


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## wildhair (Apr 14, 2018)

I was actually thinking about this the other day - wondering how other folks got into this. I enjoyed reading the stories (yes, I read them all) and I guess my story is similar to many. I love to spend time outdoors, to garden and ride motorcycles - all those things brought me here. I like to gather wild edibles - besides my meat, I pick berries & other plants for teas and food. I like to grow most of my own food in a fairly large garden with numerous fruit trees and bushes. And when my wife I would tour on the motorcycle, or just ride around WI - we would stop and various small wineries around the state & country and do tastings. And we would bring back a few bottles for later. A small local winery made a wide variety of "non-grape" wines, and being the person that always takes the road less traveled - I acquired a taste for these country wines. He made a Fox Grape wine - which took me back. 

What is your winemaking story?
My story starts way, way, way back - I had a neighbor that made wine. I was maybe 8 years old, but he would let me in his basement and I would watch him once in a while. Nice guy, but he passed away when I was still young. His wife gave me his old 'recipe book" - his notes, I guess - but my parents kept it and somewhere thru the ages and the moves ~ it got lost. I remember there was a recipe for Dandelion Wine and several others. 
Then , when I was about 11 - I came across a huge patch of fox grapes & I picked as many as I could carry home. Not knowing anything about wine making, I mashed them up in a container and put a lid on it. It fermented as God intended and it sure smelled like alcohol. I was smart enough to pour it thru a sieve - but not smart enough to add sugar, I guess. I remember taking to the guy that ran the liquor store in town and asked him taste it. LOL After some extreme facial expressions, "Needs sugar" was about all he said. Then I got caught trying to take some to school - and that was the end of that batch. My next batch was apple cider wine and I incorporated the most important lessons I learned ~
1. It needs to be sweeter
2. Make wine where my parents won't find it. 
For my next experiment, I poured a packet of bread yeast into a full gallon of apple cider and hid it in a field behind my house. When I checked on it a couple days later - it had gone from crystal clear to very cloudy. As soon as I twisted the cap - a geyser of "wine" shot into the air, maybe 10 feet high at first - and continued until completely emptying the jug. Thus ended my prepubescent wine making. For a few decades, at least. Girls, jobs, school, family, etc - all became higher priorities. 
Fast forward to just a few years ago - kids are grown and gone, things are quieter. After an especially productive couple years of black raspberries and apples - I had enough jam to last last thru Armageddon. I also had ample supplies of apple butter, apple pie filling, dried apples, canned blackberries, canned cherries, and more in the freezer. Now with just 2 of us - we could not consume it all in a year. Being of Scottish decent - I was determined that NOTHING I grew be wasted. So - when God gives you lots of black raspberries - you make black raspberry wine. 

When and how did you get involved in the hobby?
After my childhood failures, I decided I needed to do some more research if I was going to make something drinkable.. Being fond of blackberry brandy - I decided to try to make some of that. I came across this incredibly easy sounding recipe on the internet ~ 
https://delishably.com/beverages/The-Best-Homemade-Blackberry-Brandy-Recipe
And it was actually very drinkable! 

What was your first setup like and what is your current setup like?
So I picked up a couple books, then bought a basic kit - (carboy, hydrometer, primary fermenter, a couple airlocks, a corker, etc.) and started saving fruit. Soon I needed more....of everything. First a ph meter, then more carboys, more bottles, more airlocks, more storage space, a special counter to work on & cabinet to store stuff in, more books............. and on it grows.

How many batches have you done?
I didn't really get started until fall of 2016, but I started 10 batches that year. Spring of 2017, I made Dandelion Wine and started saving fruit & herbs from the garden. My wife got very sick last summer and fall, so it wasn't until she was well on her way to recovery that I was able to start making wine again. From just before Christmas to now I have 15 different wines in carboys and still have several more I want to start before spring & summer and the picking season begins. 

Where has the hobby taken you?
Hmmmm - it hasn't "taken" me anywhere, but I have enjoyed learning something new. It allows me to make unique & interesting wines from the things I grow and things I harvest from the woods. Staghorn Sumac and Goldenrod wines are on the agenda for this year. You won't find those in the local wine shop!
Now, as we ride around on the bike - we have more appreciation of the nuances and differences in the different wines - which makes the wine stops even more interesting.
Gardener, outdoorsman, motorcyclist and now winemaker. 
Well, that got longer than I intended.


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## winemanden (Apr 17, 2018)

When I was in lodgings the landlady's 70 yr old Mum showed me how to make Old fashioned country wine, she had a cellar full of the stuff. I was married 1956 , and made my first wine in 57. I made a gallon of Beetroot, bottled it the way she showed me with corks loosely fitted. It was put on a shelf in the larder under the stairs until it was safe to push the corks home. We were listening to a radio show one evening, when from the direction of the larder, was a Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang. When the larder door was opened a cloud of white dust came out, blasted off the ceiling by the corks. My wife banned me after that, but I filtered the wine and recorked it. 18 months later we tasted a bottle the Father in Law had kept in his cold larder and the ban was lifted. I've been making it ever since. A wonderful hobby. 

C J J Berry published his First steps in WInemaking in 1960, a lot of his recipes seem based on old country style wines but updated a bit.

By the way I updated my methods as I went along. No more drama, except for beer, but that,s another story.


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## winggolder33 (May 1, 2018)

TxBrew said:


> What is your winemaking story?
> 
> When and how did you get involved in the hobby?
> 
> ...


Been making wine 30 years, about 150 gallons a year.. most bottled dry, a few semi or sweet for neophyte friends. Musician friends and self drink it all. Make colorful labels on computer. Have 15 Norton vines and 300 blackberry vines in backyard. I buy many pounds of grapes at area vinyards. Dp


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## Reign (May 3, 2018)

Been making beer since 1979 so I thought I would make some wine. Kits so far just to get the process down. I like it so far. I met a fellow beer maker and he had a huge inventory of home made wine. I think he makes more wine than beer by the look of it.


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## Chris Gibbs (May 4, 2018)

I grew up in the country in Georgia, and both of my grandparents had farms. Everyone I knew grew muscadines and scuppernongs, but everyone I knew was also southern Baptist. So we ate a lot of fresh grapes and muscadine jelly. I moved to the suburbs of Houston and once I bought a house, I planted some of the muscadine vines that reminded me of my youth. For the first couple of years we just ate fresh grapes and made jelly, but there was always a few pounds of grapes in the freezer left over. Last year I decided to try making a muscadine wine. I made only one gallon and I used a plastic milk jug as a fermenter. I recycled whiskey and bourbon bottles with t-corks to bottle. I didn't think too much of it at first, and I've always been a whiskey drinker myself. But one bottle made it to about 9 months old and it was absolutely amazing! 

I now have a few glass carboys of different sizes and the basic wine making equipment. I've got one 6 gallon batch of Dragon's Blood under my belt and another in primary now. I've also got a little over 4 gallons of muscadine watermelon in secondary that I plan on bulk ageing to at least 8 months. I'm looking forward to this years muscadine harvest, as there will be much less jelly!!

Like some other posts here, this hobby has brought my wife and I closer. We visit wineries and vineyards wherever we travel, and we are both looking forward to leaving the 'burbs and retiring on a small vineyard. Hopefully in east Texas and hopefully native grape varieties.


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## iridium (May 13, 2018)

What is your winemaking story?

Started last year. Looking for something to be creative and realized I prefer wine over beer. I got involved when I got a master vintner small batch kit for my birthday with a cabernet sauvignon kit. Found this forum and then spent many happy hours reading various threads and learning even as I followed the directions on the kit. Since then, and I am not sure how, my carboys have multiplied, and I have added two different fermentation buckets. 

For what I do, I have stuck to kits when it comes to grapes. So far all have turned out well. I am excited to get further into fruit winemaking and have tried an apple, blackberry and peach. I have access to a lot of free/cheap fruit and this seems like a great way to experiment. 

I have done 4 batches with another four bulk aging. The hobby is just getting started, but what I like most is a flurry of activity and then months of ignoring it so I can do a lot of other things with life. 

I also want to thank many on this forum for their advice and information. I hope to provide some back some day.


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