who am I kidding?

[benaway]

i am making wine, but to tell you the truth, i cant tell the difference between a California Chardonnay and boone's farm apple or MD2020
right now my pallet is "well, it aint vinegar, must be ok"

I know the answer, going to ask anyway, how do I know the wine i am making is good wine.
without going out and buying good wine to compare it to?

 

[AZMDTed]

If you enjoy drinking it, then it is good wine.

I used to wonder the same question. Then I hit some winery tasting rooms and when I had commercial wines I would focus on the taste, feel, etc. Do that enough and you can compare yours to others. Some you will find really stand out. Others will just be okay. Some I would enjoy drinking more than mine, many were no better, and some were downright not to my taste. In the end, for me, it all comes back to what I said first. If you enjoy it then it's good. But if you do want to compare without buying good wines, then make sure you have good friends who will let you drink theirs

 

[dralarms]

If it taste good to you, then it's good.

 

[benaway]

If you enjoy drinking it, then it is good wine.

But if you do want to compare without buying good wines, then make sure you have good friends who will let you drink theirs

Sage advice .

 

[Jc5066]

Hit some wineries where you can sample a few at a time. They will tell you what the aroma and taste should be. Try to pick out those favors.

Some people have a more sensitive pallet then others. You may never be able to pick out those subtle flavors in different wines.

Bottom line, if you like it that's all that really matters.

 

[Thig]

Give some to family members that don't usually hold back and ask their honest opinion. I have one son that thinks everything I make is great and another one that will tell me if something is off.

 

[dralarms]

Also, if you're making wine from fresh fruit and it doesn't taste like the fruit consider adding more fruit next time to up the flavor. Some recipes on line are what I consider to be weak on flavor. They add water where there should be none. Also aging has a bunch to do with it. Your wine may taste bland at bottling but if you followed the instructions then in 6 months to a year the flavor may come around.

Just to let you know, I make 25 to 30 different wines and only add water to 1 and that's my noble muscadine. Just to bring the acid down a bit (not much). The rest of the time I frees the fruit partially thaw it, add pectic enzyme between layers of fruit and on top. Then sprinkle the top with a small amount of kmeta to keep from spoiling or browning while the pectic enzyme works.

Hope this helps.

Oh and if you want to try some juices made for wine making try www.homewinery.com good bunch of folks over there.

 

[NorCal]

I think comparison tasting is the way to go. It was hard for me to describe a glass of wine, but when I could compare it against another glass, it was easier for me to note the differences between them. Smell, color, taste.

 

[BernardSmith]

benaway, I think you are asking a really good question and while the answers others on this forum have offered are all excellent I think that the only way to know whether something you have made is good or really good or incredible is to know what the possible flavors and aromas can be. I don't know then that the answer is finding people who will give you honest answers - An honest answer is not much more than someone reporting on their subjective appreciation of the wine. What you need - in my opinion - is not simply honest answers but an ability to be able to discern very different flavors and aromas and to be able to reproduce those in ways that you want. That is not anything that I have mastered.... in my wine making but I am getting better at it ...And one way I have discovered is very helpful in a sort of roundabout way is to have joined a local brew club.
My brew club does not really favor wines although they do embrace meads - and every month we get together to share different beers and meads members are making. The upshot is that get to taste a variety of different but often similar meads and beer styles and while my club does not focus on recognized characteristics as defined by the BJCP but focuses on subjective preferences of the members you can nevertheless begin to discern different flavors and qualities and then you can engage with the people who bring out those qualities that you like to ask more about their processes and the like. I have certainly found this very helpful in both my brewing and my wine making. If you live in an area where there is a wine makers club then you might want to join that. Your LHBS would likely know of any that meet in your area ... Alternatively , if none exist and you have the time and the inclination, you might use your LHBS to develop such an organization...

 

[ceeaton]

Agree with all the above replies.

Benaway, I was heavily into the beer (started making in the early 90's) and didn't have much of a wine vocabulary. My wife and I would pick out wines by style at the local State store and try them. That's how we decided what kits/juice buckets/grapes to buy. Recently I researched and bought a Pinot Noir because I had never tried that grape varietal. I think the best way to learn is to drink it, lot's of it!

 

[benaway]

I think before this month, i have drank wine, 2 or 3 times my whole life.
mostly, jack black, canadian windsor, royal crown.
fat tire ale, honey mead , or budweiser



as far as a wine group. LOL...i live in redneck USA. LOL

I would have to turn in my redneck diploma if i had a wine group

just kidding.....




View attachment 26648

 

[cmason1957]

I think before this month, i have drank wine, 2 or 3 times my whole life.
mostly, jack black, canadian windsor, royal crown.
fat tire ale, honey mead , or budweiser

what is a clear, grape wine, dry, not sweet called ?
i had a glass of some wine, like that. very very good

Sorry not enough to go on. There are something like 1500 different types of grapes out there. More than likely it was a white grape, but it could very well have been a blend of several different grapes.

When my wife and I first got into wines, we would go to several wineries and just try one or two varietals, just to get a sense of what we liked and didn't like.

Now, after being together and drinking wine together for 7 years, we know dry, red, bold.

 

[benaway]

Sorry not enough to go on. There are something like 1500 different types of grapes out there. More than likely it was a white grape, but it could very well have been a blend of several different grapes.

When my wife and I first got into wines, we would go to several wineries and just try one or two varietals, just to get a sense of what we liked and didn't like.

Now, after being together and drinking wine together for 7 years, we know dry, red, bold.[/QUOTE

we have a winery close by in Natchez, I will look into visiting it

 

[wpt-me]

I make mostly fruit wines and would bring some to my daughters for tasting. Now her boyfriend is making some of my recipes. I guess they must of liked them !!.

Bill

 

[jgmann67]

Sorry not enough to go on. There are something like 1500 different types of grapes out there.

Just to illustrate the point, here's something from winefolly.com.

 

[shoebiedoo]

Before I started making wine I could barely tell the difference between Franzia boxed wine and a good $50 bottle. I wasn't ashamed of it either for it was a lot easier to be satisfied and I was OK with that. I didn't try to change a thing. My taste was MY taste and my wine was MY wine. Yeah, I got some harsh feedback from my connoisseur relatives. Some was valid, most was snobby so I took it wit h a grain of salt. But as I started making more and more wine, my palate started changing simply because I was aware of what I was putting in my wine. I would smell oak and such, and began to taste it in the wine.
The bottom line is, make the wine you like to drink. If others like it to, that's just a small bonus for your pride. As time goes on, you will become a lot more refined (not to be confused with snobby)

Enjoy the process. It's one of the really cool byproducts of out hobby

I'm not sure, but I think I got side tracked

 

[montanaWineGuy]

You'll be biased. Give some to the neighbors.

 

[JohnT]

Enter the wines you like into some amateur winemaking competitions. If you enter good ones, they will give you written copies of their judge's thoughts...

 

[heatherd]

i am making wine, but to tell you the truth, i cant tell the difference between a California Chardonnay and boone's farm apple or MD2020
right now my pallet is "well, it aint vinegar, must be ok"

I know the answer, going to ask anyway, how do I know the wine i am making is good wine.
without going out and buying good wine to compare it to?

It took some time to educate myself in terms of wine.

I wouldn't say you have to go buy expensive bottles, but it IS really useful to try whatever commercial bottles are in your price range to get a sense of what you like to drink.

It's also useful to get feedback on your wine. I am sure you could send a bottle to folks on the forum for feedback. Or arrange a bottle swap with another member and taste their stuff to see how it's different.

Anyway, nothing will happen instantly but it will happen gradually.

Enjoy!!!

 

[benaway]

update..i was hesitant, we had our annual meet and great. i belong to a group of long range shooters

couple of the guys. wives are into wine. so while we wee competing on the range

they were testing my white grape, strawberry mead, bananna, and fig wines

the nanner wine.was hated, .the fig was a yeah ..its ok, but...

they want more of the strawberry mead and white grape I was very pleased...and they were very tipsey