Yes, Paul, the 55 gallon drums were a bright orange color and still had a little lime juice in them when I bought them. I think at the time I paid something like $10 each as the guy just wanted to get rid of them. In the Rochester area where I lived, there were a lot of vineyards and grapes were rather easy to obtain, either for a price or for free if you did the picking. However, the varieties were limited: Delaware, Vidal Blanc and some Riesling. The reds that were available were normally low in sugar so I used to buy red grapes or juice buckets from California.
I lived right across the street from Casa Larga Vineyards in Fairport, New York and became friends with the owner (who was also my builder when we built our home). I used to participate in the harvest (all hand picking) and learned a lot about wine making on a commercial scale. Andy is gone now, and his wife, Ann, his son, John and daughter, Mary Jo have taken over the vineyard and made it a real success.
Good luck with your Merlot. It is great that NC is among the eastern states that are now growing a significant amount of grapes.
