My favorite part of winemaking...

[JohnT]

It just occurred (as I was stacking bottles into my rack) to me that I very much enjoy crush, but the best part of winemaking (to me) is finally loading newly bottled wine into my wine racks.

Just the thought that there is nothing left to do but enjoy the results is very calming. Perhaps I will finally get around to writing that book.. "Zen and the art of winemaking".

What does everyone else consider the best part?

 

[bkisel]

Well, I guess not technically part of the wine making process, but the best part of the hobby is to me gifting a bottle of wine with a custom label designed for that person or family.

e.g. This image was on a label of a bottle of DB given to a nephew. Jordan was home for a visit to CT. He's an electrician and lives in Texas.

 

[wineforfun]

The best part is drinking it and the "after effects".

 

[Boatboy24]

My favorite part is taking a bottle OFF the rack.

 

[Bergmann]

The best part for me is gifting the finished product. Not all reviews are great but I feel a sense of satisfaction when someone comes to me and says "Hay I had some of your wine at So and So's the other day and it was great."

If they say they did not care for it, I ask what they had, then offer them another style for comparison.

 

[Kraffty]

I love the excitement of starting a new batch and the first month when you get to watch over and work with it. The middle 10 or so months are kind of boring and a good excuse to throw in some experiments or kits. But bottling is up there too because of the accomplishment you feel at completion (successfully hopefully) of the process. How bad can any of be when you're "out back just making wine".
Mike

 

[jswordy]

Bottling is my favorite part of the process. I have a fascination with yeast and "farming" them to make wines and beers. Bottling means that process has successfully resulted in a "harvest" that has led to an end product.

Gifting wine is my favorite part of being a winemaker. I love the rave reviews, whether or not they are legit or just the result of getting free alcohol. (Of course, I never really know.)

Drinking the wine is my favorite part of the wine experience. It's what motivates me to make more. I have had great wines in the classical sense, and I have had great homemade wines and great hooch wines. The part about the drinking has nothing to do with all that. It has to do with how my mind and body are loosened and how the pressures and cares of scratching for an existence float away for awhile, along with the aches and pains of the mortal coil. The experience is physical and metaphysical. It is never tiring. If I am drinking with others, we eventually become buoyant and jovial. If I am drinking alone, I float in a space where nothing is demanded of me except to exist in a cloud of ether from an elixir of the gods.

 

[Kraffty]

Sometimes Jim, you are a silver tongued devil. I also enjoy that moment on a Friday night, after a few drinks, when it dawns on me that I've completely forgotten the troubles of the work week and officially slid into the weekend.
Happy weekend everybody!
Mike

 

[wineforfun]

It has to do with how my mind and body are loosened and how the pressures and cares of scratching for an existence float away for awhile, along with the aches and pains of the mortal coil. The experience is physical and metaphysical. It is never tiring. If I am drinking with others, we eventually become buoyant and jovial. If I am drinking alone, I float in a space where nothing is demanded of me except to exist in a cloud of ether from an elixir of the gods.

Excellent quote. I couldn't have said it better.

 

[jpike01]

Bottling is my favorite part of the process. I have a fascination with yeast and "farming" them to make wines and beers. Bottling means that process has successfully resulted in a "harvest" that has led to an end product.

Gifting wine is my favorite part of being a winemaker. I love the rave reviews, whether or not they are legit or just the result of getting free alcohol. (Of course, I never really know.)

Drinking the wine is my favorite part of the wine experience. It's what motivates me to make more. I have had great wines in the classical sense, and I have had great homemade wines and great hooch wines. The part about the drinking has nothing to do with all that. It has to do with how my mind and body are loosened and how the pressures and cares of scratching for an existence float away for awhile, along with the aches and pains of the mortal coil. The experience is physical and metaphysical. It is never tiring. If I am drinking with others, we eventually become buoyant and jovial. If I am drinking alone, I float in a space where nothing is demanded of me except to exist in a cloud of ether from an elixir of the gods.

I will second and third that, well written Jim. I have at least eight joints that don't hurt near as bad about once a week. Plus I think MY wine is getting better with each batch.
I do Ike taking a cork screw to a bottle of my own, my favorite part, drinkable or not.

 

[Arne]

I do Ike taking a cork screw to a bottle of my own, my favorite part, drinkable or not.[/QUOTE]

Open it up and see what kind of suprise is inside. Gotta love it. Arne.

This was supposed to be a quote from @Jpike, wonder what happened. A.

 

[Boatboy24]

This was supposed to be a quote from @Jpike, wonder what happened. A.

Your text is lacking a "

" at the beginning. Must've gotten deleted somehow.

 

[heatherd]

Along the lines of JohnT's post about Zen and the Art of Winemaking... The thing I enjoy the most is that I have done something, by making wine from grapes/juice, that connects me back to nature and making things myself. Plus it is tasty and quite effective!

My favorite part of the process is starting a new batch.

 

[4score]

Like many others, I do enjoy drinking my own wine and the satisfaction of knowing that I made something good. I also like the "punch down". There's something about pressing the cap down the suction and rush of juice to cover it!!