Where to start

[KiltedCandyman]

Good day all,

Getting ready to jump into wine making and want to know where to start. I have seen kit, juices, recipes, ect but wanted a bit more of an experienced persons answer.

Not much of a wine dinker myself, I do like whites that are so dry that they leave you thisty or so sweet they leave a film on the glass like a icewine. I also enjoy meads. I do use both reds and whites in cooking with blanced whites for pasta and syrah & chardonnay for candy making.

Jim

 

[JohnT]

HMMMMMMM

First off, Welcome!

I would start with a simple kit. There are many kits out there, and be assured that there is one for every taste.

It sounds like you do not know much about wine (as far as what you like). You did mention that you like chards and sweet whites. Before selecting a kit, I think that it would be a big help t determine what your idea of a great wine is. Go to a couple of tastings. Make it a point to get recomendations from your local wine shop and do some sippin. Once you have a clear picture of what your ideal wine is, you will have a goal in your winemaking.

Thsi goal can then lead you toward the types of kits you might want to start making. I am sure that any operator of a local winemaking supply shop could help you out at that point.

Most kits have rather easy to follow directions. That coupled with this web site (to advise, expain, and direct you) is a great chance of success.

You will amazed at what you can make!

johnT.

 

[Dend78]

or you can jump in all crazy like and just start making stuff

a kit is a smoother way to go and some are pretty much bullet proof. Or you can just buy a primary(or several), a carboy (or several), sugar and fruit and give that a try. like John said though figure out exactly what you like before you buy a kit and find out its terrible and not what you are looking for. do a lot of reading there is tons of information here and plenty of people ready and willing to help!

WELCOME!!!

 

[KiltedCandyman]

Thanks. I do plan to pick through the threads quite a bit before I get my first batch going. Got a lot of reading a head of me.

If I had to say what I liked the most is a sweet wine like New York/Ontario Icewine. As I said I also love mead in many varieties; melomels and metheglins for starters. Most other wines I use are for cooking and candy making. Syrah and chardonnay make for fantastic pairings with chocolate in truffles. I will need more exposure to wines. I know chocolates extremely well and the tasting techniques for it came from wine tasting. I do know that for straight drinking I am not a fan of reds. The tannins are not something I am fond of.

I will say I don't plan to drink most of what I produce. Through one (of many) of my other hobbies, knifemaking, I do a lot of trade. I also go to a lot of group "functions" where a bottle of homemade tipple is appreciated more than store bought.

Would the icewine kits be more difficult than the others? They are much more exspensive I was feeling I would want to get my feet under me before I paid $165+ for a kit.

Jim

 

[Dend78]

I would say give a fruit wine, skeeter pee or something of the such a try first. One thing you will learn is simple syrup is your friend and since its your wine you can over or under sweeten it to suite you rather than what everyone else thinks it should taste like.

 

[JohnT]

Ice wine. Hmmm.

Ice wine gets its name from the fact that the grapes are partially frozen when they are pressed into juice. Since some of the water is left behind as ice crystals, the resulting juice has a very high sugar content. Also, because a lot of volume is lost, the wine tends to be expensive.

Since the sugar content is much higher (and much more than yeast can consume and remain alive), the finished wine ends up much sweeter.

I am not sure about kits, though. If the kit is simulating ice wine juice, then I am not sure why it would be so much more expensive. Perhaps the kit comes with a lot of sugar? Some kits may have you "back sweeten". This is a simple process of adding sorbate (to prevent re-fermentation) and sugar as a last step,