New to Wine making

Hi Jim,

You'll find this bunch is pretty tolerant -- most of the time.

One place to start might be:

...from there you can navigate to the "glossary" on the site to find out what the words mean.

I suggest this route so that when we use a word or phrase that needs explaining, go to that glossary first. If you don't find what you are looking for, then ask. You'll see by the size of that glossary that your request for us to list the terms is, well, daunting and we probably would step all over each other trying to feed you ALL the information. I'd even suggest you pour a glass of your favorite wine, start with the letter "A" and just read the glossary as a text. The best place to start will be to invest in a wine kit. If you don't have a local store to buy from, then Googly up the term "winemaking supplies" and find a source near you. The kit will have all of the ingredients you need. If you follow the instructions on the kit religiously for the first couple of batches, and observe what the kit does regarding the instructions, that will be the best lesson you can buy. If on the other hand you want to go at it from scratch... well, have at it, but don't be surprised if you spend a lot of time and energy on making weed killers. I was going to make a list here of the hardware you will need, like fermenter, carboy(s), thermometer, hydrometer, gas locks, racking tube, sanitizer(s), .... and more. But that list becomes very subjective. Maybe the best thing to do there would be a starter kit -- one with the basic tools and toys, then build from that. Oh, one last comment. Moving the wine around in the mouth will NOT let anyone, even an expert, properly evaluate a wine.

Have fun..., and welcome to the table.

Casey

"Jim" wrote in message news:YQgdj.19400$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews9.bellsouth.net...

Nah, don't you google it. I'll do it for ya.

Winemaiking terms: Get to know Jack's site:

Wine tasting terms: The Davis 20pt rating scheme good to know:

About grapes:

Steve Oregon

Jim, I absolutely agree with Casey. Find a homebrew supply shop, buy a mid-priced kit and the minimum equipment to go with it, and *follow the instructions*..Exactly.

This should give you a decent, drinkable plonk and get you into the basic principles. After you've made a couple of these, branch out into trying a diy fruit wine from something freely available, so it doesn't matter if it goes wrong.

And.... oh, yes .... the Most Important Thing is cleanliness / sterilisation.

Good luck and have fun!

Barb UK

Jim,

I recommend starting with a Niagara wine made from Welches concentrate. You appear to be located in the States, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding the concentrate at your local grocery store. The other ingredients are available at any homebrew shop. If you don't have a local homebrew shop, look online.

Jack Keller's site lists several variations on this recipe. Some list the specific quantity of sugar; others indicate that you should use your hydrometer. Starting out I suggest that you skip the hydrometer for now. It will be a nice wine whether it is bone dry or slightly sweet. 1 lb of sugar is about 2 1/8 cups.

Keep everything clean. Minimize oxygen exposure after the first week or so (use the airlock correctly). Rack every month or so (from pitching the yeast to bottling should be 3 or 4 months). Bottle age for a few months before tasting.

Good luck.

Greg G.

Thanks for this one Bob! I hadn't found this before...

Barb UK

Bob

First, make a serious effort to find a local mentor. Ask everyone you know if they know someone that makes wine. Some of the "pros" aren't very friendly, but I don't think I ever met a hobbiest that wouldn't gladly show off his "cellar" and help a newbee get started.

Failing that, you can use a group like this as a rather poor substitute. Lots of folks have used this group to learn, and they are now good winemakers.

But _do_ do some homework. Read the references already given here and then come back to the group for clarifications and additional info.

It's the newbies that keep this group going and I really_hate_ to see google given as an answer to_any_ question. I mean, what the heck can I do when I get 10,000 hits ?? Even If I sample a few of these, there is so much misinformation out there that I can end up more confused than before !! HTH

Frederick