Joined a while back but just thought I'd say hello from Pensy! I make wine with a couple of friends, nothing fancy but we do make a good amount--anywhere from 500 to 800 plus bottles a year. Just depends if we're making it for anyone else other then ourselves.
Hello from PA
- Thread starter rayray
- Start date
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Welcome Rayray. There are a bunch of PA, NJ, MD and VA wine makers here. Where in PA? Where do you source your grapes?
Thank you jg!
We're going to do a batch of grapes this season but we use good quality juices from California. We go through a couple of local store operators in the area, Lopes Market (Portuguese seafood/deli) and Zingales a local fruit market. I live in the Lehigh Valley, outside of Allentown--grew up in Bethlehem. One guy goes to NYC and the other guy goes to Philly for the juice
We're going to do a batch of grapes this season but we use good quality juices from California. We go through a couple of local store operators in the area, Lopes Market (Portuguese seafood/deli) and Zingales a local fruit market. I live in the Lehigh Valley, outside of Allentown--grew up in Bethlehem. One guy goes to NYC and the other guy goes to Philly for the juice
You’ve got a bunch of options to choose from. A few of us went with Washington Winemakers last year. Lodi grapes, very healthy, good pricing. Will likely go with them again this season.
I'll keep that in mind--thank you for the information.
https://www.washingtonwinemakers.org/index.html
Is this the group you're talking about?
https://www.washingtonwinemakers.org/index.html
Is this the group you're talking about?
Yep. That’s them. The grape sales go to support a senior living facility. Plus they have a crusher destemmer on site for use... free of charge. Pretty good deal all the way around.
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I like how the grape sales go to support a senior living facility--I'll check with my buddy--he's a little stuck in his ways so it might be a hard sell for the drive. It might have to be a road trip.
Ray, grapes are almost twice as expensive as juice buckets but the quality and enjoyment really can't be beat. Depending on how much you plan on making you may have to invest in a press but if you are making a small amount a bucket press should work just fine. Hope you convince your buddy and we see you there.
My buddy has a press--he made wine from grapes for most of his life--he only swapped to the juice because his daughter was complaining of the smell when they temporarily moved back home. I believe this year we're going to do a batch of wine from the grapes, just don't know where we're getting the grapes yet.
