Why do you make wine at home?

[Johnd]

I’ve also made wine at work, twice to be accurate, with a group of folks who were interested. From ordering the kit to bottling day.

 

[skyfire322]

I've always loved chemistry, and when I was a cellar assistant at a winery in VA, the winemaker talked at length about the science behind it. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to continue making it even if I couldn't have my own vineyard.

 

[mainshipfred]

I've always loved chemistry, and when I was a cellar assistant at a winery in VA, the winemaker talked at length about the science behind it. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to continue making it even if I couldn't have my own vineyard.

I know you probably mentioned this before but what winery?

 

[skyfire322]

I know you probably mentioned this before but what winery?

Philip Carter, in Hume VA.

 

[knockabout]

We started making wine as part of our 'do one new thing a week philosophy' and fell in love. We (hubby and I are all in together) love the idea of handcrafted and made by us that elevates something to 'Special'. We love the actual making of it, we love a hobby that will in most cases, wait until we have time to take the next step. But it's also super cool to be doing the same thing that people have done for thousands of years, essentially the same way. -how that ties into history is very exciting for me.

 

[PhilDarby]

Many factors, firstly I can produce a drink to my own taste, I can add what I want, when I want, I can spend as much or as little as I want to invest, I can make drinks I know I cannot get any other way, I enjoy making something I have created and crafted myself. There is no rush and time is a contributing factor, I enjoy the challenge of waiting I also, enjoy the anticipation, I also, love to experiment a Lot, thats how I learned. Then I enjoy drinking it and sharing the experience, with people of good company, people you know aren`t going to cause you a problem, so, the people you drink with, can become limited, I love to try out new ideas and check out exotic or new flavours, or, new additions and new tweaks, I do enjoy some old favourate drinks, but, I also, enjoy trying something new as well, it is an evolving process and has been for a while. I dont make purely grape wines I love English style or similar country wines, in fact, not so, much my wine making consists of whatever I can get in the way of fruit locally at a reasonable price, so it depends on what is available at the time, which isn`t always Uk fruit, you might say I am a fruit grabber ;-) but thats how it is, I will ferment most fruits and will blend it with common household ingredients as well as vintage oak to tweak it, a hobby of mine was collecting vintage barrels at one time I have a few older small barrels, that I use very small ones compared to other people, mainly around five litres I have also experimented with oak cubes etc, as well as adding tannins from every day home supplies aka coffee and tea and other sources as well as flavours, I also keep an eye out for unusual additives, for example I recently came accross unprocessed coconut sugar at a reasonable price, 50 p for half a kilo it is brown in colour so has a lot of husk in, it only needs a few teaspoons per gallon to add a coconut hint, of flavour, I am not a grape snob, well, there is none available and even if there was I couldnt afford it, I am a big fan of raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, peach (the hairy skin type) mango, black berry, elder berry, damson, rhubarb, mostly I blend with apple or grape if I can find grape that is, its very scarce locally. when I find it it tends to be seedless grapes in trays, not decent ones, aka primary or high end wine grapes, hence i consider myself a country wine maker. I have also experimented with oats and other grains by adding some, oaks it seems gives a bit of a nutty flavour, increases mouth feel is very cheap, aids yeast reproduction, during ferment and is locally available in most parts of the world, at a rate of one to three teaspoons per gallon, for future referance, it imparts a bit of a nutty citrus kind of flavour, when young, the citrus flavour predominating as it ages, a bit akin to tangerines, but, the thicker mouthfeel is retained, I intend to experiment with hops, as an experiment, purely from a country wine kind of stance, the bitter after taste appeals to my experimenting philosophy, I have no idea how it will age though. Mango is a wild card because when it is young the mango predominates, although it drops a lot of sediment, as it ages it tastes more like a sweet white wine kind of flavour, hairy peaches, the kind with very prominent hairy skins, usually yellow and red make a superb peach wine the flavour is retained as it ages unlike other peaches, the history of the fruit source is retained and i cannot find enough of a supply of them locally, it ages very well and retains its flavour, I prefer red or mostly red apples to green, it seems to age better, better end this here lol.

 

[Slappy]

Really interesting read this thread. Great to know a bit about what drives people in their hobbies and passions.
For me there’s multiple reasons. I started off brewing over 15 years ago and had a lengthy break. Returned to brewing with a vengeance and found myself bored during the warmer months when I can’t brew so turned to wine. I’m lucky enough to be within 1-2 hours drive of some of the best wine regions in Australia so it just makes sense for me to make wine. I enjoy the little bit of science, little bit of art way of doing things and the amount of things to do and learn really engages and challenges me. I want to be able to make truly great wine eventually and am even considering a bit of a future career change if I can make it work. Wine making is one of the few things I do for me and I push myself to make it fit around my career and young family. Often racking, blending and bottling in the middle of the night.