Newbie from Iowa

[Lynn Z]

Welcome, Lychyo. What part of IA you are in?

Thanks! Iowa City

 

[Lynn Z]

I started out making fruit wines from my own fruit. Glad I found this site. Taught me all the important stuff especially patience (which I still struggle with) I recently helped my daughter start a kit wine and I have to admit the instruction in that kit would lead a person to believe you could ferment your must for 7-8 days then age in secondary for 2 weeks then bottle.

im at the point now where I would never consider bottling at one month from kit or scratch.

you don’t make wine on your schedule, you make it on the wines timetable.

That's what I thought when reading the wine kit instructions and I was getting ready to bottle at the 30 day mark until I started reading posts in this forum. I don't know why I didn't question the quick timeline, but I was also thinking that the wine manufacturer was expecting me to age the wine in the bottle, but now I know better.

 

[vinny]

That's what I thought when reading the wine kit instructions and I was getting ready to bottle at the 30 day mark until I started reading posts in this forum. I don't know why I didn't question the quick timeline, but I was also thinking that the wine manufacturer was expecting me to age the wine in the bottle, but now I know better.

Many people have wines made on site at there local home brew shop (LHBS). They bottle when the kit instructions suggest and take their rewards home to enjoy. They call this 'trunk aging' as it is often consumed immediately without any more time to rest and mellow than the ride home. I made a batch this way with a neighbor years ago, and I would bet I opened the first bottle the night I brought it home. I was young and wanted cheaper wine. I never even considered it could get better if I didn't drink it, that's ridiculous!

I do remember that I thought it was good, I enjoyed it.

Some people make wine from frozen concentrate in their back yard with a garden hose. You can witness it on Youtube.

It's not wrong. We all have to decide what our goals and standards are. How deep our interest in learning the real skills are, and how important making a really good wine is vs. time, patience, and current thirst levels.

Kit timelines are brilliant marketing. Could you imagine browsing 6-12, even 24 month kits and that you would be thinking I want to get into this! I've made 2 so far that when tasting around the bottle date, I thought that is pretty good, I could almost drink that. Others, no way. One in particular was awful, but has come around a lot in a very short time.

Different wines will taste better sooner than others. I think that is all part of the fun. Identifying what you like and expect, and also pushing yourself to leave it longer in anticipation of greater reward.

 

[winemaker81]

I recently helped my daughter start a kit wine and I have to admit the instruction in that kit would lead a person to believe you could ferment your must for 7-8 days then age in secondary for 2 weeks then bottle.

Almost any wine can be started and bottled in 30 days, if using the wine kit process. Hundreds of thousands of satisfied kit customers have proven that it works. As @vinny pointed out, it's a brilliant marketing strategy!

However, to quote Ian Malcolm: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should."

Ok, that quote is with respect to dinosaurs and I'm fairly certain early bottled wine won't run around eating people. But @FlamingoEmporium's point is something this group stresses to new winemakers -- it's gonna take time.

It's not wrong. We all have to decide what our goals and standards are. How deep our interest in learning the real skills are, and how important making a really good wine is vs. time, patience, and current thirst levels.

Early in my winemaking career I massively overproduced white wines, and had wines declining after the 2 year mark. Fortunately I had friends that would drink anything containing alcohol, and they were the happy recipients of cases of white wine. Different strokes for different folks.

@Lychyo, I suspect the response you got is a bit overwhelming?

Keep in mind that your procedure is not set in stone. The process you follow for other wines will likely be different, as you learn new things, participate in discussions, and gain experience.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Some people make wine from frozen concentrate in their back yard with a garden hose. You can witness it on Youtube.

There’s a lot you can witness on YouTube

I prefer the insanity here.