Hello all

[dcbrown73]

Hey all.

I'm David. I'm an IT guy that lives in Connecticut. More specifically a suburb of New York City. I'm a transplant from Texas (Dallas / Fort Worth area) a little over 11 years ago. I've drank wine here and there for years, but never really got into it until a little less than a year ago.

It all started at a dinner where a wine was specifically paired with my meal and I was blown away by it. Now, I've grown obsessed with trying new wines all the time. (I write all my tastings down on a blog if anyone is intersted) I tried to buy wine by the case, (cheaper that way) but found out. I prefer to continuously try new wines only keeping one or two different wines in bigger bulk just for the days I just want to enjoy a glass rather than analyze the (bleep) out it!

Now, I want to learn to make my own. I'm not sure I want to do it because I want to make wine. I just love learning new things and now this is one I want to learn. We will see how it goes from there.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome, dcbrown! I also went through a long period where I kept notes on all new wines that I tried; I found this very enjoyable and educational. Like you, I eventually decided I wanted to be able to make me some of that!

Enjoy your time here.

 

[AZMDTed]

David, welcome. Be careful, this hobby can become addictive I too was fascinated with learning new things, and the simplicity, yet complexity, of wine making intrigued me. I'm amazed that we basically take grape juice, add yeast, and oh by the way, the yeast gorges and parties all the while creating a hostile environment that eventually kills it at just the right alcohol level. Then you let it age, clear, and magical reactions take place that cause the flavor and feel of the wine to change over the next couple years. Fascinating to me. Then you can start tweaking by changing yeast, oak, tannins, time, barrels, etc. And oh by the way, you can buy varietal kits from all over the world giving you practically endless possibilities.

All you need are two things: attention to detail and patience. Attention to detail isn't that big of a deal, but patience is. No matter how decent the wine is initially, as long as you started with high quality kits, it will keep changing and get better as time goes on. But do you have the patience to let it age for 18, 24, or even 36 months and still have enough bottles left to enjoy it when you say wow, this is it?

You're warned, if you go down this path you will find in six months that you may have a lot of kits going so that you can drink some soon to satisfy the need to reinforce your new hobby, while squirreling away enough to have your 2018 wines ready in time.

Welcome, enjoy. Lot's of smart and experienced people ready and willing to help you.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum!

Where from in CT? I moved from Southbury, CT to PA just last July. Retired IT guy BTW. Worked for AT&T out of New Haven. Interestingly a lot of ITers from CT worked out transfers to TX!

 

[Tnuscan]

Hi David, you're at the best place to learn and share. I really enjoy this forum and all the people. Lots of info, especially just reading all the posts from years back. Enjoy yourself!

 

[dcbrown73]

Welcome to the forum!

Where from in CT? I moved from Southbury, CT to PA just last July. Retired IT guy BTW. Worked for AT&T out of New Haven. Interestingly a lot of ITers from CT worked out transfers to TX!

I used to live in Darien, CT, but I sold my house. Until I find a new house, I'm in Danbury, CT.

Lots of IT work in Texas, but I came to work in the financial sector (IT part of it anyhow) and did for many years. I since moved into a Director position, but no longer in the financial sector. (I work out of Westchester) Kind of miss the engineering work as it's a lot more interesting than management. :/ Though a bonus of being in management is I get to pick and choose engineering tasks to work on when time allows which isn't all that often.

 

[bkisel]

I used to live in Darien, CT, but I sold my house. Until I find a new house, I'm in Danbury, CT.

Lots of IT work in Texas, but I came to work in the financial sector (IT part of it anyhow) and did for many years. I since moved into a Director position, but no longer in the financial sector. (I work out of Westchester) Kind of miss the engineering work as it's a lot more interesting than management. :/ Though a bonus of being in management is I get to pick and choose engineering tasks to work on when time allows which isn't all that often.

I pretty much stayed technical and an individual contributor my 39 years with the phone company. I remember the days, during the few years I was a project leader in IT, as mostly being spent going from desk to desk dealing with people problems.

Wish you the best in both your professional career and with your wine making hobby.