Any other thrifty wine makers out there?

[vinny]

It's funny to me that there are 2 threads going on about this right now.

I am going to say that wine making 100% DEFINITIVELY SAVES YOU MONEY. The most expensive kit I have seen was around $165ish dollars. That's $5.50 a bottle, which will likely taste as good as a 20-30 dollar bottle.

You have to remembers hobbies cost money. Take boating for example. You buy the boat, a trailer, pay insurance so you can drive it to lake, boat license fee? boat insurance? Launching fee?

Did you buy a cabin to leave the boat at?

THEN YOU STILL HAVE TO BUY BOOZE.

Wine and beer making are the only hobbies that when you are done having fun, you can skip the trip to the liquor store.

You can't even count those savings....

 

[wood1954]

I agree with Vinny, it’s a hobby I like a lot. It doesn’t cost a lot so I can afford to invest in it. My son wants to take his kids camping so he bought an expensive camper and a $60000 truck to to tow it. My hobby rewards me all year long. Plus I wanted to be an entomologist when I was a kid, now I have own little ecosystem in the vineyard to observe various insects.

 

[BigDaveK]

I actually watched The Bachelorette for 2 minutes once. (That was a long, slow, painful 2 minutes!!) It boggles my mind that people are actually paid to make it, a network buys it for broadcast, and people actually watch!!???!!

Some days I wonder where the heck is that asteroid or the invading aliens...they're late.

 

[ChuckD]

I actually watched The Bachelorette for 2 minutes once. (That was a long, slow, painful 2 minutes!!) It boggles my mind that people are actually paid to make it, a network buys it for broadcast, and people actually watch!!???!!

Some days I wonder where the heck is that asteroid or the invading aliens...they're late.

I don’t need to watch it. There are three people in the office that talk about it all the time.

Boggles. The. Mind.

 

[TurkeyHollow]

Wine and beer making are the only hobbies that when you are done having fun, you can skip the trip to the liquor store.

You can't even count those savings....

At $5.79/gal (diesel), I can count the savings! (Not looking to stir up an EV conversation)

 

[ratflinger]

Yeah, my wife is from Germany and was used to drinking wine with dinner. Now, I made good money and could afford the wine, but still, $150 a week on wine was pressing me a little. Then I discovered the hobby wine industry. Now I'm running $100 a month and get to sample the wine through all it's stages. We determine when a wine goes in the bottle or keg. We add different things to add flavor, etc. Plus I find it enjoyable.

 

[Jusatele]

It's funny to me that there are 2 threads going on about this right now.

I am going to say that wine making 100% DEFINITIVELY SAVES YOU MONEY. The most expensive kit I have seen was around $165ish dollars. That's $5.50 a bottle, which will likely taste as good as a 20-30 dollar bottle.

You have to remembers hobbies cost money. Take boating for example. You buy the boat, a trailer, pay insurance so you can drive it to lake, boat license fee? boat insurance? Launching fee?

Did you buy a cabin to leave the boat at?

THEN YOU STILL HAVE TO BUY BOOZE.

Wine and beer making are the only hobbies that when you are done having fun, you can skip the trip to the liquor store.

You can't even count those savings....

funny mentioning the boat, as I am waiting for news sails for mine. have you ever priced sails, it will scare you away from boating. And oh yea you need the liquor to justify the expense of boating. Can't just get the wife drunk on home brew so she misses the boat bills, you need to justify the bills, " Yes dear that stainless steel turnbuckle did cost 75 dollars, here let me fill up that glass with another Pinot Gris."

 

[Shurt1073]

My first question is : do you start up someones old thread or do you start a new one with basically the same conversation? what is the norm?

I was so excited about making my in-expensive (not cheap tasting) wine for about $2-3 per bottle. Island Mist black cherry $60 kit and $4 added sugar. Recently, bought a FWK Pinot Noir on sale and should come out to $2.50 per bottle, FWK Grenache for $2.75 per bottle. The FWK blackberry will be $3.00 per bottle. Dragons Blood might have been the least expensive of all.

My most expensive wine I've made will be a Carmel Dessert wine I purchased in December 2022 for $129.99 comes out over $8 per bottle 750ml or actually $4.50 for thirty 375ml dessert wine bottles.

What's even more exciting to me is the fun I'm having as a hobby. Anyone else keep track of how much per bottle the homemade wine is costing as part of the hobby?

Note: I did recently purchase a pricey piece of equipment for wine making but let exclude equipment for now.

 

[meadmaker1]

I am new to wine making. I doubt I will ever create an award winning wine. I don’t even know if I would know what that tastes like. Up until 6 months ago bota box was my go to and I was fine with that. If I had access to Trader Joe’s I would also be happy. But I decided to try and save money by making my own wine. Plus with shortages of everything these days I figured it would be good to have some emergency wine. I will probably never make a kit wine due to the cost. This forum turned me onto DB and that’s become my go to. But I am also interested in making wine from things I can forage. Got some blackberries (or black raspberries?) growing in field, hoping I can get to them before the wildlife does. Also have a lot of May pops. They are sweet, but no other real flavor. Any ideas on what to mix them with? And what about zucchini, would that make a good wine? I would love to hear other ideas!

Don’t sell yourself short. I earned a Gold award at the Newport Or. seafood and wine festival. With fourth or fifth batch I ever made. A tropical fruit mead. My methods I learned here are pretty much the same batch to batch and I dreamed up the idea a proportioned it per an idea I had.
It wasn’t cheap but that wasn’t my goal.
I have access to a pickup truck full of grapes every year but it’s your guess as to what they are. To you they would be your favorite “free”. If you can find cheap or free fruit and recycle bottles you can save depending on what you would buy and if you product doesn’t disappoint you. No reason it won’t be great.
No zucchini though please.

 

[suzyq2]

my-tea-wine-recipes.98106 This site has tea bag wine recipes, often mixed with a liter of juice. They also have a lot of "WOW" wines which is basically supermarket juices. Frozen grape concentrate is inexpensive and not bad when mixed with another juice flavor or your found fruit. I do not recommend cucumber or chipotle pepper wine. The jalapeño is fantastic (added jalapeños to a 2nd run of blackberries) and the basil shows promise. I love kit wines but I have a large garden and like to ferment things. I think a support group may be necessary .

 

[wood1954]

I used to worry about price per bottle, but it’s become a hobby I enjoy so as long as I can afford I don’t care about price. A hobby only needs to bring enjoyment not return on investment. My neighbor does target shooting with hand loaded .308 rifle ammo , at over a buck a shot he shoots way more than I drink. It is gratifying tho to make good wine cheap.

 

[BigDaveK]

Thrifty?
I'm blessed. I source 90% of my main ingredient from the yard. Sugar is my most expensive ingredient and the cork is probably second. Coffee was one of my most expensive last year- took almost a pound of beans. That one might be close to $1.75 a bottle and worth every penny.

 

[ChuckD]

I think a support group may be necessary .

What do you think this is?

 

[vinny]

What do you think this is?

Wrong kinda support. This is more like bringing heroin to an NA meeting!

 

[winemaker81]

My first question is : do you start up someones old thread or do you start a new one with basically the same conversation? what is the norm?

There is no norm. Fortunately, folks on this forum don't get fussed over thread necromancy. We have folks responding to a 10 yo thread where the OP has been gone for years. It pays to look at the date on posts ...

Me? If adding on to an existing thread makes sense, I do that. If my question or comment doesn't follow on, I make a new one.

OTOH, when someone needs help, I always recommend making a new thread in the appropriate forum, to get the best results. Folks see a new post in a thread with 20 pages, they are more likely to skip it. Posting a country wine question in the kit forum won't get as much attention as posting it in the country wine forum.

What's even more exciting to me is the fun I'm having as a hobby. Anyone else keep track of how much per bottle the homemade wine is costing as part of the hobby?

In the past I ballparked the number, and in hindsight I was off a fair amount. For example I buy a $100 USD kit, get 25 bottles, I called it $4/bottle. This didn't take into account K-meta, corks, capsules, labels, etc.

Recently, since my son & niece take a portion of the main batches, I've been tracking accurately, adding in all consumables, including corks, labels, and capsules. I don't count hardware, e.g., if I buy a new carboy, that will be used for years, and since I'm not an accountant I don't depreciate it. [If this was a business expense, you bet your bippy I'd depreciate it! ]

 

[Shurt1073]

It is gratifying tho to make good wine cheap.

I think you are spot on. This was the best way to explain how I was feeling about making my own wine. If I was buying "store bought" wine, I'd be more frugal and would not be giving wine away or opening that extra bottle because it was purchased in a store at a higher price and not made by me.

Winemaker81 ... I do not count my hardware in the total cost of making wine either.

The whole two months I was in college I was set to be an accountant, my dad was an accountant, my grandfather was an accountant .... no, grandfather was a drunk and didn't work but you get the picture. I've been a numbers guy playing baseball in school until they told me I couldn't play anymore. Fielding percentage, batting average, slugging percentage, strike out ratio..... etc. Watch a baseball game on TV and you will see stats and numbers all over the screen. Guessing I like numbers at a young age 36 24. 36.

So as my mind wanders it tries to figure out how much my wine is costing me. I'm fortunate it doesn't matter but still a game I play. To much time on my hands!

 

[vinny]

Anyone else keep track of how much per bottle the homemade wine is costing as part of the hobby?

I was very happy to have made Dragon's Blood for about $.75 a bottle. I proudly told my neighbors who are CHEAP! and inspired them to make it.

I just bought an $800 printer so I can print my own labels. I tried the $400 version first, and that was frustrating enough to inspire me to buy the $800 not anywhere near worth the price, but it does what I want version. I have been struggling to get lables for months.

The only way I can convince myself winemaking is cheaper, now, is to move into a deep state of denial. Instead I just choose to completely overlook that part and carry on having fun while drinking my ~$5 bottles of wine.

I almost bought the $1000 printer and a drone so I could do yearly progress pictures of the property. We only have one, a company flies around taking pictures and then comes and offers it to you in a frame for $250. I figured it would pay itself off in no time.

Than I decided I want a printer so I can have fun printing labels and stopped trying to justify it. Spending more money to save money.... Oh that's rich, but it's what we tell ourselves!

 

[ChuckD]

What I see on this site are a whole lot of do-it-yourself types… thrifty by nature!

 

[ChuckD]

The only way I can convince myself winemaking is cheaper, now, is to move into a deep state of denial.

Whatever works! Not really a necessity but who cares. We like our toys too!

 

[vinny]

Whatever works! Not really a necessity but who cares. We like our toys too!

Whether it tastes better or not is certainly opinion, but I enjoy drinking it WAY more. It is also teaching me a lot about wine that I never cared to know. I used to be red/white like/don't like. Now, I am making better kits and going back to taste my originals and thinking I'm not going to make those kits any more.

The WE classics. I can get 2 for the price of one high end kit, but they are just Ok. They all taste very similar. Ok, maybe not I won't make those, they are a good utility wine. Good for cooking, or gifts, but I am able to pic out characteristics I enjoy much more in the higher end kits. I am WAY more discerning of my wine than retail, so I am learning way more from making wine than purchasing. I am no longer worried about cost, the quality and enjoyment are there.

It's like the garden. I love everything that comes out of it, but I am $4k into the root cellar, and $2500 into the greenhouse. I might break even over store bought if I live into my 90's, but that's a LOT of carrots. Luckily, saving isn't the point at all.

I brought my best wine to date to a friends over the holidays. They opened it immediately to let it breathe. I was excited. Gramma poured a glass and came to tell me it was very nice.

Our host? I was facing the bar and had no choice but to watch her finish off a bottle and grab mine to top it off.

There is still room for utility wines in my life. No Top Shelf for you!