Juice price

[Rusty Nesmith]

I found a local winery. They don’t sell their own grapes but can get me buckets of fresh juice from a bordering state. I was told around $120 for a five gallon bucket to make Cab Sauvignon. It is just the juice and no skins or fruit. Does that sound good or bad.

 

[1d10t]

I found a local winery. They don’t sell their own grapes but can get me buckets of fresh juice from a bordering state. I was told around $120 for a five gallon bucket to make Cab Sauvignon. It is just the juice and no skins or fruit. Does that sound good or bad.

Where in WVA are you located. I pay less than half that in NE Ohio.
https://luvabella.com/grapes-juices
It could be their juice is worth it, but probably just buy it at some place like listed above.

 

[mainshipfred]

It's really pretty expensive. Juice buckets normally come in 6 gallon buckets and are closer to $60.00. There places that sell frozen must and there are some on the forum that swear by them plus they do come in 5 gallon buckets for about that price. But for me that is just too expensive.

 

[pete1325]

Here in the Chicago area I buy buckets for $60 Cali-$80 Italian....$120 does seem a little pricey.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Where in WVA are you located. I pay less than half that in NE Ohio.
https://luvabella.com/grapes-juices
It could be their juice is worth it, but probably just buy it at some place like listed above.

I am on the river across from Marietta Ohio.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

1d10t thanks for the link. I can make it there in about 2.5 hours. It would be a fun drive. How long will it be good in the bucket before fermentation?

 

[1d10t]

1d10t thanks for the link. I can make it there in about 2.5 hours. It would be a fun drive. How long will it be good in the bucket before fermentation?

It comes refrigerated. Depending on conditions it may take 24 hours before you can pitch anyhow. That's a lot of mass to warm up and the weather is cooling.

Call ahead. I know they are getting some of the Italian juices in now. This stuff is 'pre order' but there may be some stock for sale.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Not ready yet. My wine area is very small right now but should have room to expand next year. This is my winery. Lol

 

[beano]

Rusty, looks great. I have a small space also, hope to expand in the future. Have to fight (beg) the wife for space.

 

[Intheswamp]

Aw man, that looks great!!! It ain't like the wine's gotta have room to do aerobics or anything...those yeasties know how to live in confined spaces...most of the time.

 

[crabjoe]

I say they're trying to make one hefty profit off of you... Around me, and from my understanding, there's only one place left in MD that sells juice or grapes and even they charge 1/2 that.

 

[Jal5]

Try luva bella you will get all the help you need from good folks there! Plus the restaurant is terrific A+ IMHO

Also during the summer months we have an open market in downtown Steubenville and a stand named Anjuile Farms has juice buckets on pre-order basis. Both are good sources at less than half of that price you quoted.
JOE

 

[Rocky]

Rusty, as others have stated, that price is really high. I use either L'Uva Bella near Youngstown or Joe Mercurio here in Columbus and the price is around $55 per 6 gallon bucket. This is for juices in the Spring from South America and in the Fall from California and Italy. I know either place would be a hike for you but depending on the number of buckets you are buying, it could be worth it.

Also, your wine area looks great. I think you will find that it will "grow" substantially.

 

[Scooter68]

Sadly there are still those places and people willing to stick it to people, especially if they think their 'locals' are too lazy to price shop or drive a little way. At those prices a two hour drive will leave you way ahead if you buy a couple of pails at one time.

Then casually drop by sometime and mention that you had pretty good luck with a couple of pails from XYZ and they were 'a bit less expensive.'
That's not vindictive that's clueing them in that maybe they should 1) Lower their prices or 2) find a different supplier.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

We will head up there next year. If I was to get 2 or 3 buckets would they last fermenting one at a time or would I need to get a couple more fermentation buckets and ferment them all at the same time?

 

[mainshipfred]

We will head up there next year. If I was to get 2 or 3 buckets would they last fermenting one at a time or would I need to get a couple more fermentation buckets and ferment them all at the same time?

If you had a freezer large enough to put them in you could do one at a time. Otherwise you would need additional fermentors and carboys.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Thanks Fred.

 

[cmason1957]

We will head up there next year. If I was to get 2 or 3 buckets would they last fermenting one at a time or would I need to get a couple more fermentation buckets and ferment them all at the same time?

I generally don't add anything to my juice buckets, well I add some oak chips and tannins, but nothing that takes up more volume, so I often ferment them right in the buckets they came in. I am picking up three buckets tomorrow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel and probably all three are going into one 20 gallon (maybe the 30 gallon) trash can to ferment together as a field blend.

 

[crabjoe]

I generally don't add anything to my juice buckets, well I add some oak chips and tannins, but nothing that takes up more volume, so I often ferment them right in the buckets they came in. I am picking up three buckets tomorrow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel and probably all three are going into one 20 gallon (maybe the 30 gallon) trash can to ferment together as a field blend.

Are you using the wild yeast that's in the pail or are you adding yeast?

I ask because when I moved my juice to an 8 gallon pail for fermentation, it almost bubbled over. That was with red star champagne yeast.

 

[Ajmassa]

We will head up there next year. If I was to get 2 or 3 buckets would they last fermenting one at a time or would I need to get a couple more fermentation buckets and ferment them all at the same time?

The buckets I normally get are 5.3gal. And they leave just enough space for foaming to ferment in the bucket. Added some oak dust, sprinkle on yeast, and lay lid on loose. Easy peasy
The extra .3gal accounts for sediment waste leaving you with a full 5 gal carboy of finished wine in the end.

Pictured below is a Cali Cab on the left and Barbera on the right. About $60 each