Please Help a Beginner Wannbe

Start by picking up a good book or two on wine making. C.J.J. Berry's First Steps in Winemaking" is a classic and should be on every winemakers shelf. It is concerned primarily with country wines (non-grape) but it covers the basics very well without confusing the issue with too much science. i.e. it will get you going. For grape wines Cox's From Vine To Wine is very good. It is readable and will give you more info than you will need to start with but you will grow into it.

Then get a good winemakers hardware kit. Less than $100. These are pretty standard and any Winemakers Supply can help you. Pick up some extra carboys in different sizes as you find them: 5, 3, 1, 1/2, any size you can find. This is all stuff that can be used over and over.

Then you can get a wine kit. Get a good one. I am not overly impressed by Red wine kits but many people like them. A good kit will make yield 5-6 gals and will run between $65 and $100. These will make wine that is at least pleasant and maybe really good in 6 mo. to 1 year.

If you want to go all the way then you can order real wine grapes and do it right but they will not be available until Sept. or around then. You will need to rent a stemmer crusher when they arrive to process them and then get hold of a wine press (rent?) about 2 weeks later to crush them. This is not something I recommend that a new person does by themselves on the first try. It is not hard but it does require a little experience to do it right.

The best thing would be to get with someone who has made wine before and do an apprenticeship or start simple like with kits or country wines and work into it.

By the way, I don't think any of us make wines just to get drunk on the weekend. Far too much pride in produce for that here. Suggestions and recommendations will be aimed at quality products.

Ray

Thanks for the sound advice and feedback Ray. I have scoped out a $110 dollar wine making kit. It comes with a red and white wine starter setup. From there I can acquire a huge variety of wines, includng vintage stock and grapes. Also for what didn't sound like that much money, like $125, I could buy that grape crusher you spoke of if I want to get raw grape, and for $100 a fancy floor style corker,I Guess if I'm really cranking it out! Thanks again, Basil

Sounds like you are cranked up. You will find that like many hobbies there is always another specialty item that you can spend your money on. If you have a place that you can rent one, I would recommend that you rent the stemmer crusher, at least the first time. They are moderately expensive and they are only useful once a year when grapes come in. The first expensive item that I would recommend after the basic kit is a floor corker. You will definitely want one soon if you continue this hobby. As wines age in carboys you will need extra carboys and they are not cheap at $20-30 each. (I have over 20 - I am afraid to count.) The press is useful for many fruit, not just grapes, and you can get a pretty good one for around $100 or a really good one for a bit more. I have one with an enameled base and stainless basket that cost less than 100 and will handle 4-6 gal of must going into secondary at a filling. I can easily do 30-40 gal.s of grape wine in an afternoon and it is easy to clean up. It is also small enough that I do not need 30-40 gals to make it worth using. After those three items you can get into pH meters and high level titration kits and all sorts of things.

Like any hobby this can become a money sink. But unlike most hobbies it has such a delightful end product!

Ray

Since you're in a large metro area, you should be able to find some used equipment in the classifieds... I've bought 5 or 6 54l demijohns for less than 10$ a piece. Some people buy all new equipment, make a couple of kits and decide that winemaking isn't for them, so you can often get good deals on carboys and demijohns, pails, and other equipment. Do get fresh sulphites and other chemicals though, as they have a limited shelf life. I'd recommend going the all-grape route as soon as you feel comfortable... as for a book, I found Danial Piambachi's Techniques in Home winemaking very good and up-to-date.

Just a thought but have you checked with any vinyards in the are to see if they would sell you the juice from the grapes? I go to Grapevine TX a few times a year and see grape vines all over the place. I know a place outside of Bryan TX sells the juice at picking time. It is the Massinahoff winery. good luck