Do you drink store/commerical wine?

[SarahRides]

Most of the wine I've made is still in the carboys, I have a few that I've bottled and am drinking. I have 8 of them I'll be bottling in a few months. I'm sure once that is all drinkable this fall and winter, I won't be buying much! For now I mostly drink what I have, and what I have bought from wineries. I like drinking wine that I've heard the story about! Mostly from small, local wineries. I'll probably still buy from them even after having my own. I got a little ambitious with the wine making last year, so I will have a lot of my own to go through eventually.

 

[Famineguy]

I buy from small wineries and the liquor store. My own wine is not yet ready. When it is, I will surely buy less, but I like to try different wines and will probably continue to buy

 

[Midwest Vintner]

What if they are virtually the same thing?

 

[stujol]

We still go wine sampling a couple times a year and come home with a case or two. We call it R&D lol. There are a lot of great winemakers here in Michigan and it is a fun weekend. Wine sampling is what got us started in wine making. The variety would be hard to duplicate. And sometimes you get to sample one that you want to try to make.

 

[g8keeper]

was forced to buy commercially made wine for awhile when i was away from the hobby for a few years....still, even when making my own, i would pick up a bottle here and there to see what it was like, but also have to pick up a few bottle when i go up to traverse city or visit some small wineries in ohio when on vacation...

 

[mmadmikes1]

As soon as I find a good source for juice to make Brunello , I will stop buying wine. I buy 2 or 3 a year

 

[captainl]

I drink mostly just mine. My wife would buy whites that I don't make. But now she is pregnant so she won't let me drink wine in front of her. I'll still buy a bottle from duty free in central America and Mexico if I think I can't get it here. One of the perks of being a pilot....lots of Chilean and argentinian wines where I go.

 

[jswordy]

I do drink some wine from the store and from commercial wineries. It is good to compare against my own, or to drink varieties I don't make. It's always fun to be drinking a $19.95 commercial winery bottle and realize my batch at $2.50 a bottle or whatever is every bit as yummy, so therefore could conceivably bring $19.95 in the marektplace.

Commercial sampling also gives me cues I want to strive for in my own wines. For example, I am still in an over-yearlong pursuit of the mouthfeel of a $6 (at Wal-Marts in Illinois) Illinois Cellars Velvet Red.

http://www.illinois-wine.com/store/Illinois-Cellars-Velvet-Red_MPD8.html

Some of you have gotten PMs from me about that quest! I'm still not on it, but I am experimenting to try to find something close.

I have a suggestion for Keith along these lines, as well. I'll email it.

 

[Rodnboro]

I drink both. There is a local winery that makes a fantastic Red Muscadine that I enjoy. I'm planning on trying several muscadine batches this fall to see if I can come close to their recipe.