Newbie in PA

[jethro]

Howdy winemakers,

I am a wannabe winemaker. I only drink dry wines.
Now I wanna make a homemade wine that doesn't
make me retch (as opposed to my first hack at winemaking, many years ago) Some of the California and Chilean commercially produced wines I have come to enjoy are

Cabernet Sauvignon
Sauvignon Blanc
Petit Syrah
Pinot Noir

-Jethro

 

[Julie]

Hi Jethro,

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

 

[Rocky]

Hi Jethro, welcome to the forum.

What variety of wine did you make in the past that was not up to par and what was the source of the juice? The four wines you list are all great. What kind of wine making equipment do you have? If you have an 8 gallon fermenter and a carboy, I would recommend a good level kit, e.g. RJS Winery Series. If you want to make a nice Sauvignon Blanc, I have had good performance out of Cellar Craft's Premium California Sauvignon Blanc. It is a 16 liter of juice kit that makes 23 liters of wine. I found the wine to be very good and the price is right for a 16 liter kit.

 

[Poni]

Hiya, check out morewines guide to red winemaking. Go to morewinemaking.com to find it. Its free and a good place to get started. Good luck!

 

[JohnT]

Jethro,

Let us know a little more detail. Are you wanting to make wine from a kit, from bucket juice, or from fresh fruit?

There are many options to choose from. Rest assured that you CAN make a wine that can rival the best of them. You just need to commit to staying with it and make it a rule to learn from your mistakes...

That being said, like the others have asked, could you please describe in as much detail the process/ingredients that you used in the past?

johnT.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome aboard Jethro!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome!

I am a total newbie myself. I have made only 3 kits so far (all dry reds). All of them are VERY immature, but I will tell you this: I have been served worse wine than my terribly young wines in restaurants!

 

[jethro]

Thanks for welcoming me. I appreciate that.

johnT, this is the youtube video that got me going:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmuH8xWOJv4[/ame]
After watching it, I thought, "Why not try that? Looks simple enough." My motto is keep things as simple as possible, but not simpler. KISS

So the juice method looks good to me---pour, add sugar, shake, pitch, shake, wait.

Then I found this forum! And I started reading about your tricks to the art of winemaking.

Well at least I will learn patience if nothing else.

Rocky, thanks for the recommendations. I have taken notes from your instructions on flavoring sauvignon blanc must w/ citrus zest. However, before I trust myself with that wine, which I love, I am going to see if I can make some good reds first to perfect my technique (minimize oxidation of the must). Am guessing you get 23 L out of a 16 L kit by adding water.

Rocky, I also read about your adding raisins to must to give the wine "body". I'm thinking of trying that. Do you think that would work for a Cabernet Sauvignon? I admit I haven't looked up any recipes yet, so if you know of a good one for Cabernet Sauvignon, I'm all ears. I am more inclined to pour juice because it's simpler than buying kits or processing fruit. At least until I convince myself I can't make a good wine just using juice. Maybe if I use yeast nutrient next time that would help the flavor ?

So far the equipment I have is:

a hydrometer
a 1-gallon plastic fermenting jar (now contains must)
two 1-gallon carboys (one full, the other empty)
a thermometer haning on the wall 3' from the carboys
Redstar Pasteur Red yeast
sugar
dozen mason jars
3 750mL glass bottles w/ plastic screw caps
1 750mL wine bottle

Those are all the tools I have. So I am going to make small stinkey grapey messes until I can convince myself that the resulting wine will taste good enough to spend the money for 6-gallon batches. Until then I will probably stick to grape juice because it's simple and cheap.

Jethro

 

[ffemt128]

Welcome Jethro,

I'm sure you will get alot of different opinions here for starting out. Given that you don't have much equipment invested thus far here is my recommendation. I would go to your local brewing shop and purchase a Winemaking kit. The kits generally come with everything you need equipment wise and also include your first juice concentrate. If you follow the directions, it is damn near impossible to screw up a kit. I went this route and feel that it will at least give you the basic concept of making wine while ending with a result that will be quite acceptable. Your total investment goint this route will be approx $165 depending on where you live and your local costs.

I made 2 kits initially before I jumped into fresh juice and fruit wines. 4 years later I have 30+ carboys of which all but 5 are full now.

Keep an open mind and ask questions. The kind folks on the board here are very helpful. Just don't mention making Welches Wine to JohnT.

 

[SBWs]

Welcome Jethro, where a bouts in Pa are you located. Simply Home Brew in Northeast PA (Drums) has a set up where you can use all their equipment to make your wine. It's a good way to learn and see if the hobby is for you without buying all the equipment. I'm sure there are more places out there that do the same thing, others may be able to point you to them if they know where you are located.

 

[Hokapsig]

J-

Welcome to great hobby. Not only will you learn to make some good wine, but you will also meet a lot a great people. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, we have meet -N - greets (which turn into some great wine tastings) and you get to learn a LOT if you listen close.

Welcome!!!

 

[pjd]

Isn't it ironic that Jethro answers JohnT with a video featuring Welches? Got to love it! Good job Jethro!

 

[Runningwolf]

Isn't it ironic that Jethro answers JohnT with a video featuring Welches? Got to love it! Good job Jethro!

This is way too funny!

 

[jethro]

Well, am in central PA, but closer to the 'burgh than to Philly. I'd like to visit Pittsburgh. It's about an hour's drive from here.

Well, already deviated from the hooch shown in the youtube video! Read too much on this forum, I guess.

I started two one-gallon batches. Moved one to 1-gallon glass carboy at 0.997 SG; the other, 0.999.
Discovered the "gallon" capacity means only the vertical sides--doesn't include the inverted-funnel-shaped portion on top. The two different batches are from two different kinds of Welch's grape juice. One is Concord grapes only. The other is Concord grapes mixed w/ juices from apples, pears, and cherries.

So I bought a jug of Livingston Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon to top off the two carboys. I don't know what the "oxidized" wine taste is, and I'd like to keep it that way!

Would also have liked to have added raisins and toasted oak, but will try those tricks next time. Cost for two gallons is already $35.86, which already exceeds the $3 I am willing to pay per bottle of wine. I'm cheap.

In order for there to be a next time, my first experience has to taste good. So am keeping my two carboys under airlock for as long as long as I can quell my curiosity to try my homebrew wine. Will rack 'em off the lees two or three times before I drink 'em, getting a taste each time. And maybe they'll clear on their own if I keep 'em in there long enough.

 

[Julie]

Jethro, I would recommend in backsweetening those wines at least a little.