Other How big is yours????..........

[franco22]

Wine cellar that is! My wife and I started making kits a few months back and at the time got a 120 bottle rack for the basesment....I since doubled that to 240!! We already have half full and after 3 more kits we will have used our capacity.... I was kidding my wife saying we have room for another 120 rack and she seemed to like the idea!!! So I guess I just need to know I'm not nuts and overdoing it....How big is your wine cellar???

 

[DaveL]

you need to drink faster

 

[Runningwolf]

Franco your story sounds all to familiar. I started out with three racks about 120 bottles each. I out grew the cellar with racks in excess of over 1000 bottles. The cellar I built was 6'x8'. Now I have three Sams club racks sitting in my winemaking area that hold 168 bottles each in addition to a batch sitting in bottles with no where to go, 5 carboys in the freezer and I don't even know the number of Chilean and California wines sitting in carboys yet. Chilean will be bottled in the next 4-5 weeks as the new harvest is only a few months away!

 

[ibglowin]

~200ft2 Cellar/Winery

320 bottles of commercial wines (for pallet expansion)
~500 bottles of kit and fresh grape wines bottled
~600 bottles of bulk age wines from this years crush and last years crush. (last years crush will be bottled early Spring)

 

[derunner]

Sounds Familiar, I currently have 270 bottles worth aging in carboys with immediate plans to start 3 more batches once i bottle some Skeeterpee and Dragons Blood. Then there are about 6 more wines I want to make before redoing any that I have already made. I started in September. I currently have 400 bottles that I have cleaned and plan to collect a couple hundred more. I only have storage for 220 bottles, so I need to get busy building or buying another rack.

 

[roger80465]

Who says size doesn't matter? I suddenly feel inadequate and self conscious.

I currently have only about 150 bottles aging and 30 in primary and another 30 in secondary. I also have about 30 bottles worth 'bulk aging' in the plastic bags the juice came in. These are my daily drinkers that won't be around for more than 6-12 months. (Sure beats the hassle of bottling these table wines). My goal for 2013 is to build my inventory of better and above wines so I no longer have to make the 'table wine' kits.

Roger

 

[rezod11]

Don't feel too bad Roger, I have two six gallon kits bulk aging in the only two carboys I have. As of now, I'm working on paying off the last of my debt so that I can start making more wine and stop buying commercial wine...and buy an allinone. I look forward to my making and tasting my first DB so that I can leave the rest of it alone to age.

 

[Runningwolf]

Rezod, if you can time it right, hold off on buying kits for now. Chilean Juice pails will be out soon and sell for about $50 for a 6 gallon pail. You could go south to Youngstown and get it or come east to Presque Isle and buy some. The juice is usually available around April.

 

[pjd]

franco22, When I started I built 3 racks that would hold 12 cases each. It proved to be totally inadequate. the cellar now is equipped to hold 3,500 bottles or approx. 5 years production. I started winemaking in 2010 and it is real fun opening a 3 year old bottle. I am hoping in a couple of years to be able to do that with 5 year old wines.

 

[Boatboy24]

franco22, When I started I built 3 racks that would hold 12 cases each. It proved to be totally inadequate. the cellar now is equipped to hold 3,500 bottles or approx. 5 years production. I started winemaking in 2010 and it is real fun opening a 3 year old bottle. I am hoping in a couple of years to be able to do that with 5 year old wines.

Five years production? How many years drinking/gifting?

I have a 168 bottle rack and a 50 bottle fridge. Not nearly enough, but I'm trying to slowly ease my wife into this.

What's funny is for five years, I've been trying to convince my wife that we need to finish our basement. She's finally been convinced, and we've now saved enough to do it. Problem is, she's ready, and I don't want to finish it now. I just want to put in a ton of (wine) shelving, a work table, and a couple utility sinks!

 

[Midwest Vintner]

we've got a few, pallets....

 

[pjd]

Five years production? How many years drinking/gifting?

I have a 168 bottle rack and a 50 bottle fridge. Not nearly enough, but I'm trying to slowly ease my wife into this.

What's funny is for five years, I've been trying to convince my wife that we need to finish our basement. She's finally been convinced, and we've now saved enough to do it. Problem is, she's ready, and I don't want to finish it now. I just want to put in a ton of (wine) shelving, a work table, and a couple utility sinks!

Boatboy, I still buy over 50 percent of the wine I consume. I do make at least the legal limit per year but I do give alot of it away, drink alot of it but still manage to keep some of it to sample 3 years later. I sincerely hope to get my wines into a 5 year rotation.

 

[Wade E]

Dan' do you think the buckets come close to or beat a good kit? I have not come to that conclusion myself. Is it just me? Ive tried a few different brands and always find they severely lack both body and tannins.

 

[Boatboy24]

Boatboy, I still buy over 50 percent of the wine I consume. I do make at least the legal limit per year but I do give alot of it away, drink alot of it but still manage to keep some of it to sample 3 years later. I sincerely hope to get my wines into a 5 year rotation.

I aspire to that level. Trying now to figure out how to keep several bottles from each batch for 3-5 years.

 

[rezod11]

Rezod, if you can time it right, hold off on buying kits for now. Chilean Juice pails will be out soon and sell for about $50 for a 6 gallon pail. You could go south to Youngstown and get it or come east to Presque Isle and buy some. The juice is usually available around April.

Thanks Runningwolf, I'll keep that in mind! If I can wait that long to start something new: )

I may just b able to do both.

Any suggestions n the Chilean juices? Much appreciated!

 

[Pumpkinman]

Wade,
So far the few kits that I've tasted were just ok, one was real good. The juice buckets that I've been making all seem very good, as well as those that a few friends have made.
I really think it has a lot to do with the choices that are made, starting from the yeast used to the oak added, or not added. As with the premium kits, where grape packs are being used to add body and complexity, I feel that adding raisins have added body to some of my wine as well.
I'm really considering taking a few lugs of grapes and trying to dry them "Amarone" style (with a fan to avoid rot) and freezing them in batches to be used in future wines, the concentrated sugars and flavors should really make a difference.
Just my opinion.
Tom

 

[DaveL]

Who says size doesn't matter? I suddenly feel inadequate and self conscious.

I currently have only about 150 bottles aging and 30 in primary and another 30 in secondary. I also have about 30 bottles worth 'bulk aging' in the plastic bags the juice came in. These are my daily drinkers that won't be around for more than 6-12 months. (Sure beats the hassle of bottling these table wines). My goal for 2013 is to build my inventory of better and above wines so I no longer have to make the 'table wine' kits.

Roger

I like the idea of aging in the bags. Very smart

 

[robie]

As RunningWolf suggested, look into the Sams Club metal wine racks. They are not that expensive and hold lots of wine. Each shelf can hold over 300 pounds of weight. I assembled mine inside a cloths closet down in my basement.

 

[robie]

I like the idea of aging in the bags. Very smart

Just make sure you don't leave the wine in the bag for too long. As the bag ages, the oxygen barrier in it breaks down. Six months is good; 12 months might be a little too long. As with any other type of storage container, keep the air space to a minimum.

 

[roger80465]

I only leave a wine in the bag that I plan to consume within 6 months. As for air space, I drilled a cap from the bag and installed a spigot that will allow me to fully bleed the air from the bag. It works great.

I also find it an interesting way to use wine I am not very fond of. I have an over oaked Chateau Classico Amarone that I keep sampling to see if the oak has tamed. So far, it is still nearly undrinkable but I have added a couple partial bottles to a bag containing Mezza Luna. Result is a fuller bodied, over oaked wine combining with a light bodied, under oaked wine to achieve a VERY nice table wine. It is very pleasant. Still beats bottling a wine that will be opened next month.