Other Estimated "Value" of homemade Vino

[ChuckD]

It is a hobby for most of us here I believe. I enjoy fishing and hunting too. But with all the money I've spent on equipment, clothing, trips, etc. It would be far far cheaper to just buy fish or venison. Something about doing it yourself and doing it well is, and I'll repeat myself, priceless!

Exactly. Trying to figure out the cost is a fun exercise but irrelevant for most of us.

I have 17 waking hours per day (give-or-take). My Job takes about 10 hours a day including prep and travel. Probably two or three more for daily necessities. With the remaining time I have gardening, fishing, woodworking, hunting, reading, wine making, online nonsense, grandson time, relaxing, etc. these are activities that provide me with joy. Most are more expensive than wine making, but cost rarely enters the equation in my choices.

 

[Steve Wargo]

What I'm getting out of the hobby is a developing discerning wine palate. Also, I know the ingredients used during the winemaking process. I like to think that I am a better judge of commercial wines, because of it. I don't hesitate to use a bottle of my red wine in a Beef dish like Beef Burgundy, or my white wines to deglaze the fond in the pan created from a recently seared piece of chicken. Also, homemade wine seems to be a hit at parties.

 

[SLM]

Monetary value is important to me because I spend way too much money on wine. Points ratings are fine but I find it much easier to compare one wine to another by how much I had to pay. I buy mostly direct from wineries where I can try before I buy. Wines I enjoy are typically in the $35-$70 range, with a sweet spot around $45. For retail weekday wines I try to stay under $15.

To date I have bottled 5 wines, with 8 more bulk aging. Of the 5 bottled, three I would rate at under $15 (all kits). Two would fit in the upper end of my scale (one kit, one wild fruit). Good odds so far. Of the 8 unbottled, none are tasting good enough yet to assign a value. Hopefully they improve with time.

 

[Neb Farmer]

When I've had those moments of wondering about value, compared to commercial wines, I came to the conclusion that it is definitely cheaper! But only if I don't put a price on the slave labor I use. Still, the quality is usually good, the price is at least 50 to 75 percent less , maybe even more. Materials are cheap, chemicals, and corks( which tend to be the most expensive item per bottle) . Grapes...I grow my own, with the intial cost of plants was less than $2.00 per plant. After 11 years I almost consider them to be free.

In short , the VALUE is pretty good. And of course, there is 'value' in the therapy, education of doing, and I suppose there is even a health benefit in there somewhere.

Buy THAT

 

[Steve Wargo]

Monetary value is important to me because I spend way too much money on wine. Points ratings are fine but I find it much easier to compare one wine to another by how much I had to pay. I buy mostly direct from wineries where I can try before I buy. Wines I enjoy are typically in the $35-$70 range, with a sweet spot around $45. For retail weekday wines I try to stay under $15.

To date I have bottled 5 wines, with 8 more bulk aging. Of the 5 bottled, three I would rate at under $15 (all kits). Two would fit in the upper end of my scale (one kit, one wild fruit). Good odds so far. Of the 8 unbottled, none are tasting good enough yet to assign a value. Hopefully, they improve with time.

My homemade doesn't taste like a particular grape variety until 18 months. I usually count on the feedback I get from friends and family. I have a sister she will tell me the truth about any wine of mine that she doesn't like, or she likes. She actually liked my 2019 Chardonay oaked wine. She said it tasted like a brand that she drinks called "Butter". I cold fermented the Chardonnay batch @ 60 degrees using D47 yeast. I gave an Oaked Cabernet Sauvignon Blended 25% with homemade Syrah to a neighbor that drinks Red wine and he said that it was one of the better Reds that he and his wife have drunk. He didn't compare it to any brand. They buy good wine. I've opened a few 2019 bottles, for medicinal purposes. The wine I made in 2019 has improved to the point that it's better than $15 a bottle of store-bought wine. With time It'll get better. Comparing notes to when they were 6 months old, it's a miracle how good it tastes. They were all ugly babies.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

My homemade doesn't taste like a particular grape variety until 18 months. I usually count on the feedback I get from friends and family. I have a sister she will tell me the truth about any wine of mine that she doesn't like, or she likes. She actually liked my 2019 Chardonay oaked wine. She said it tasted like a brand that she drinks called "Butter". I cold fermented the Chardonnay batch @ 60 degrees using D47 yeast. I gave an Oaked Cabernet Sauvignon Blended 25% with homemade Syrah to a neighbor that drinks Red wine and he said that it was one of the better Reds that he and his wife have drunk. He didn't compare it to any brand. They buy good wine. I've opened a few 2019 bottles, for medicinal purposes. The wine I made in 2019 has improved to the point that it's better than $15 a bottle of store-bought wine. With time It'll get better. Comparing notes to when they were 6 months old, it's a miracle how good it tastes. They were all ugly babies.

@Steve Wargo. Butter? That's my wife's favorite commercial wine.....would you mind sharing what you made / did so I can try to replicate?

 

[Steve Wargo]

@Steve Wargo. Butter? That's my wife's favorite commercial wine.....would you mind sharing what you made / did so I can try to replicate?

I'll have to look at my notes this weekend and will do.

 

[G259]

Until I started splitting batches with family members, I never seriously calculated the cost of my wines. Sure, $125 kit / 25 bottles = $5/bottle. But I didn't consider the cost of additives, oak, corks, capsules, & label. I make wine ... because I make wine. Folks on this forum probably understand that, while non-winemakers don't

I consider those as 'the cost of doing business' (making wine)!

 

[ratflinger]

Making wine is a way to keep from going broke. My wife is from Germany, she insists on wine daily, at least with dinner. Even with Trader Joe's I was going broke. I enjoy making the wine, and learning the techniques, while varying the process. It's a win-win. I now have a much greater appreciation of wine.

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

I live life by one rule...."you can't put a price tag on fun and happiness"!! If your worrying about the cost, have another glass cuz your not having enough fun yet

 

[SLM]

Here's a comparison. I picked up a club release this weekend. The 2020 Dissident is a Cab, Merlot, Malbec, PV blend. Club price $40.
Pomponette is a $15 bottle. Sour, I don't think I could drink a full glass. So I blended 50/50 with a cheap weekday Merlot I had made, which by itself is not great. But in a blind taste test my wife chose my blend. Now I feel like I'm getting some value. Fun schmun, my goal is to drink good wine!

 

[wood1954]

I’ve never made a great wine, but I’m starting to make good wine in the style I like so it’s hard to value it. When I was in Greece I could buy a liter of good wine in a plastic bottle at the local outdoor market a for couple euros. Here in America it would be worth probably $20. I don’t understand some of the pricing in this country, it’s all just grape juice after all.

 

[winemaker81]

I’ve never made a great wine, but I’m starting to make good wine in the style I like so it’s hard to value it. When I was in Greece I could buy a liter of good wine in a plastic bottle at the local outdoor market a for couple euros. Here in America it would be worth probably $20. I don’t understand some of the pricing in this country, it’s all just grape juice after all.

An unfortunate percentage of the price is tax.

Another part is arrogance on the part of some winemakers, and the amounts folks are willing to pay. Of course, if I ran a winery and someone was willing to pay $70 instead of $15 for a bottle ... I'd sell it for $70.

Circa 1990, a Hollywood sommelier was interviewed by Wine Spectator. One of his beefs was that a celebrity would call him and ask for a $500 bottle to go with their dinner. They were not buying a wine, they were buying a price tag.

Me? I rarely pay more than $20 USD for a bottle, and often half that, as I read reviews and go by recommendations in wine stores. So far, it's worked pretty well for me.

 

[mainshipfred]

Even though this getting a little off topic all the comments are pretty relative.

If you totally disregard labor costs growers have the advantage of the most inexpensive fruit. Second I believe will be for people living in California and other large producing wine regions, especially if they are allowed to pick the fruit themselves.

Folks on the east coast pay 3X if not more than those on the west coast primarily due to shipping. I know nothing about the Finger Lakes region but here in Virginia the higher labor rate along with the low yields is the reason for this additional cost. Plus I believe more spraying and tending to the vines also contributes to this. I can buy fruit from California and even the southern hemisphere cheaper than I can buy it locally.

The advantage I have with local that I have no control over with the other sources is I know the fruit is just picked and I know what the numbers are. If I don't like the numbers or the looks of the fruit I have a choice of whether to buy it or not.

So the cost of homemade wine greatly depends on how and where you source your grapes. For me the cost of fruit alone is $4 to $5+ per bottle. Disregard the cost of equipment but include consumables I would put it at $6 to $8+ a bottle. I may have an ego I'm dealing with but I think my wine is better than any $8 bottle of commercial wine.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

An unfortunate percentage of the price is tax.

Another part is arrogance on the part of some winemakers, and the amounts folks are willing to pay. Of course, if I ran a winery and someone was willing to pay $70 instead of $15 for a bottle ... I'd sell it for $70.

Circa 1990, a Hollywood sommelier was interviewed by Wine Spectator. One of his beefs was that a celebrity would call him and ask for a $500 bottle to go with their dinner. They were not buying a wine, they were buying a price tag.

Me? I rarely pay more than $20 USD for a bottle, and often half that, as I read reviews and go by recommendations in wine stores. So far, it's worked pretty well for me.

Some of my favorite wines were around $14 a bottle. A Yugo and a BMW will both get you where you need to go.

 

[winemaker81]

I may have an ego I'm dealing with but I think my wine is better than any $8 bottle of commercial wine.

Nope, no ego involved. IME any of us using decent fruit can produce a wine that is better than an $8 USD bottle, and often better than most sold at $15.

That's materials cost -- labor? I should start tracking my time, just for the heckuvit. Tracking is the easy part -- pricing my labor? Ok, that's where ego gets involved.

 

[oppyland]

I brought several bottles to my brother and sister-in-laws' place for Easter. Got a message from my SIL that the Pinot Grigio was "even better than the store-bought stuff" and my niece just loved the Shiraz. Both were cheap kits with some tweaks. It makes me happy that other people enjoy it, which is way better to me than any cost analysis.

 

[GaDawg]

Nope, no ego involved.

It I had an ego involved I wouldn’t call it “Chez Bubba”

 

[sremick]

I'm still a newbie... after a long hiatus, I finally bottled my first (kit) wine. I did the math and it basically came to $10/bottle. But that includes $2.50 value of the bottle itself... if I can re-use the bottle, then the consumables (wine, ingredients, cork, capsule) costed me $7.50.

What's the "value" based on how good it tastes? Jury still out on that one. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the taste... it doesn't taste "bad" at all, but there's something unusual/unique that both my father and I both can taste that we can't put our finger on ("kit wine taste"?). I now suspect it might be from the sorbate, which wouldn't be something one would normally taste in a commercial dry wine (I intend on skipping the sorbate going forward, but I have a number of kits bulk aging at the moment where I followed the instructions).

Making wine from my own grapes (my original plan) would change the cost/bottle math considerably, likely to a point where it'd be too difficult to calculate. Alas, I recently lost my vineyard so that won't be happening anytime soon.

Of course, in my current solitary/hermit life the "cost" per bottle is pretty meaningless as I'm not selling to friends/family and just consuming myself (I'm not even bothering with labels).

 

[She’sgonnakillme]

I'm still a newbie... after a long hiatus, I finally bottled my first (kit) wine. I did the math and it basically came to $10/bottle. But that includes $2.50 value of the bottle itself... if I can re-use the bottle, then the consumables (wine, ingredients, cork, capsule) costed me $7.50.

What's the "value" based on how good it tastes? Jury still out on that one. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the taste... it doesn't taste "bad" at all, but there's something unusual/unique that both my father and I both can taste that we can't put our finger on ("kit wine taste"?). I now suspect it might be from the sorbate, which wouldn't be something one would normally taste in a commercial dry wine (I intend on skipping the sorbate going forward, but I have a number of kits bulk aging at the moment where I followed the instructions).

Making wine from my own grapes (my original plan) would change the cost/bottle math considerably, likely to a point where it'd be too difficult to calculate. Alas, I recently lost my vineyard so that won't be happening anytime soon.

Of course, in my current solitary/hermit life the "cost" per bottle is pretty meaningless as I'm not selling to friends/family and just consuming myself (I'm not even bothering with labels).

What kit did you make?