BC'er on Board

[Angie]

I joined the forum some time ago but never posted until recently. Over the last year I decided to make wine that I enjoyed, and am slowly building up my equipment pieces to do so. I finally bought a small press for those fruit wines

I have only been making wine for about 3 years now and don't have the wine inventory that some of you have made - this is what I have done so far:

BC Merlot from grapes
BC Pinot Noir from grapes
BC Gewertz from grapes
B.Berry Merlot - kit x2
Shiraz - kit x2
Cherry
Mixed Berry
Zinfandel from grapes
Peach Chard from kit
Plum

In the fall of 2009 a friend and I each did a Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc and we just blended for a Bordeaux style which will have to age for a few years.

I just started my first couple of batches of Skeeter Pee so waiting to see how that turns out.

I have gotten some good advise from this forum so far and look forward to getting lots more!!

 

[mmadmikes1]

Welcome Angie, It appears as though you are now a full blown wine making ADDICT. Glad your here

 

[Julie]

Hi Angie,

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Welcome and I see that you start from the very beginning....grapes. This is a great forum and glad you decided to join.

 

[Dugger]

Welcome to a great forum, Angie - sounds like you have a good cellar going already and you certainly live in a great area for a winemaker.
Spagnols make an Okanagan bordeaux kit that you might be interested in just to compare with the one you have blended.
When the weather gets better I'm heading out to Kimberly to visit relatives while here in BC ( Vancouver) and hope to spend a couple of days in the Okanagan. When do the wineries typically open for visitors?

 

[WinoOutWest]

Welcome from another BC'er. (well it looks like we joined at the same time).
We're practically neighbors! (or at least I get up the Okanagan a few times a year.)
Can you hook me up with some grapes up there in the fall?
I started only a year ago and have only done kits, pee and some all grain beer kits so far but I have been quite pleased with the results - especially the high end kits.

Dugger: I've got that BC Meritage bubbling away in the primary as I type. Anxious to taste it.

 

[Angie]

Dugger....a fair number of the wineries are open right now - some require appointments for tasting. A fair bet is to count on them all being open in May for general public tasting. There are some great wineries in this region. Once you get to Kelowna and heading south every second road sign is a winery one so if you try everyone then

Have fun tasting. One thing I never did was carry a note book to log my tasting experiences for future reference. Gosh, guess I have to do a whole bunch more tours and start over

 

[Angie]

Hi Wino: Glad to see someone else from BC on here. Our group gets lots of grapes in every year and crush them as one. Your best bet is to join one of the winemaking groups in Van so you can purchase part of the grape lots. One of the best clubs (and we have gotten grapes thru them) is the Nanaimo bunch. They are always looking for premium grapes so you know you will be getting some good wine. Nice thing about the local clubs is being able to share equipment (and the labour of crushing/pressing). I don't think I would have ever tried wine from grapes if not for that.

I am doing more and more from kits though. Some of the higher end ones suit my needs just fine and they are alot easier to do!!

If you are looking for grapes don't forget that Spagnols sells in the fall. I know you can get frozen from them and you might even be able to get fresh.

Keep in touch!!

 

[Runningwolf]

Hi Angie and welcome aboard. Stick around and keep asking, we enjoy hearing from you.

 

[WinoOutWest]

I am doing more and more from kits though. Some of the higher end ones suit my needs just fine and they are alot easier to do!!

If you are looking for grapes don't forget that Spagnols sells in the fall. I know you can get frozen from them and you might even be able to get fresh.

Keep in touch!!

I am interested to hear your comparisons and whether or not the effort if worth it with grapes or if there is a difference between their juice and their kits.

I am only doing higher end kits now and almost exclusively from Spagnols as my office is about 10 minutes away and they often have deals on cosmetically damaged boxes in the retail shop.

 

[Angie]

OMGoodness...I don't think I would be a good one to compare kits to grapes. I haven't been making/drinking the big heavy reds long enough to be able to critique them. I actually don't drink them all the time which is why I am switching to kits. Kits are way more economical then making wine directly from grapes. On average, the price we pay for grapes is close to double what you would pay for a higher end kit. I am just starting to make some of those kits in order to build my wine inventory up - need some of the better stuff for when the 'wine snobs' come over.

Some of the guys around here that have been making wine for the last 20 years have all the equipment to produce a high quality wine - barrels, testing equipment etc - and they do make some wine that is better then commercials. We often do blind tasting and they score just as high as a commercial variety, and that is buying a good commercial to boot!

I know of a couple of them that are starting to switch to kits as well, simply because they are getting on in age and it takes a fair amount of labour to get that juice out of the grapes. They also have the expertise to tweak the kits and get a super tasting wine. Much easier.

 

[WinoOutWest]

well actually that's probably what I need to know for now. Thanks!
I like the effort to taste and cost factor I am getting now from my high end kits. I probably won't have time/energy/equipment for grapes for a good while yet.

 

[Angie]

Good choice....I'm not sure I started out the right way - grapes first. Had I started with kits and worked my way up I might appreciate those 'grape' wines more. By the time you get to that point a person has probably got some of the necessities for winemaking, such as a small barrel. Biggest critique about my first effort was that there wasn't any oak - still learning how to taste and appreciate oak in wines. Oh well, live and learn.

Enjoy what you are doing/making...lots of fun!!

Thanks to all for the welcome!!

 

[Wade E]

Glad you finally joined in as we dont bite!!!! Well, Dan does but thats a whole other type of biting!!!

 

[mmadmikes1]

Well if you need any help getting rid of those damaged kits, let me know. I find OKanogan grapes to be Fabulous. Of Course I have been getting mine from south side of 49th parallel. I have been making Chelan Reisling because the reds from Yakama Valley are so GOOOOD