Affordable grapes in the southeast?

[jbo_c]

Anybody found an affordable way to source vinifera grapes in the Southeast(Atlanta area)? I just can’t find a way to make it equitable. By the time shipping is added, grapes(frozen) are quadruple the cost of even premium kits.

I could maybe get myself to pay double, but quadruple really offends my cheap side. Even if I stretched it by making a second run it would be double or more and the second run would be inferior(though, probably still better than a kit in many ways).

Anybody found a solution down here?

Jbo

 

[jburtner]

I'm planning to order from Colavita next season. Probably do a pallet full which is a bunch and I'll need to get a larger tank for bulk aging and a crusher/de-stemmer. I'll use my small press for now. The cost goes down quite a bit in these quantities.

https://www.cawinegrapes.com/

Cheers,
johann

 

[jbo_c]

Haha. Wish I had space for a pallet. I have debated doing a drum, but even that is asking a lot of my space.

I guess I’m hoping to get into a group buy or have someone tell me there’s a distributor with a cold storage within an hour or two where I could pick some up “direct”.

Or even maybe one of the vineyards locally will sell grapes to home winemakers. I have done that before but that guy has moved on and haven’t had any luck from others locally.

Jbo

 

[cmason1957]

I seem to remember reading about a place in Florida that brings in grapes and/or juice. And that's about all I remember, but it was on here that I read it, so happy searching for further information about it.

 

[jburtner]

I live in Nashville but used to live in ATL. There are a couple wineries in the area. One just up I85 north of ATL.

Cheers,
johann

 

[Tatmia]

Anybody found an affordable way to source vinifera grapes in the Southeast(Atlanta area)? I just can’t find a way to make it equitable. By the time shipping is added, grapes(frozen) are quadruple the cost of even premium kits.

I could maybe get myself to pay double, but quadruple really offends my cheap side. Even if I stretched it by making a second run it would be double or more and the second run would be inferior(though, probably still better than a kit in many ways).

Anybody found a solution down here?

Jbo

Have you looked at the Purple Foot Wine Club? I''m not a member, but I believe that they have done group buys before.

 

[jbo_c]

I haven’t, Tatmia. Thank you for the tip.

Jbo

 

[winemaker81]

Tatmia's idea is a great one. Last fall I connected with a group in the Raleigh/Durham area of NC. We do a group buy and get good rates on west coast grapes. This fall we collectively purchased 6+ tons, which makes a big difference.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Have you looked at the Purple Foot Wine Club? I''m not a member, but I believe that they have done group buys before.

* clubs make it very affordable by getting to truckload quantities. The quality isn’t controlled ex 2 years back the club made wine which has weird mold notes.
* a 100,000 population city or larger has a fruit distributor who can order in and you should get grocery chain pallet price.
* local retail produce managers can order in for you and you should get case pricing.
* looking at the New York production areas I have seen prices ex $400 per ton for concord (natives) or $900 per ton northern hybrids. The farmer doesn’t get much in the scheme of things.

 

[The Dutchman]

Colavita out of California has local distributors all over the country.
Local Distributors — F. Colavita & Son I saw there is one in Buford GA.
I found a location fairly near me last year, and the quality was great.

 

[jbo_c]

I’ve tried emailing Colavita multiple times and no success. I’ll try some more.

thanks for the response.

Jbo

 

[Johnd]

I’ve tried emailing Colavita multiple times and no success. I’ll try some more.

thanks for the response.

Jbo

IIRC, had a similar problem years back, so I called. They have some overzealous spam filter that’s hard to get past, they added me to the OK list and all has been fine since. Give them a call, nice folks.