Small scale wine production from kits?

Is viable to make and sell wine using kits? My thought is to use home wine making equipment (5-6 gallon batches using kits) and sell by the glass in a craft brewhouse. Kind of give it a craft brew feel but with wine. Just 100-200 gallons a year total over maybe 5 different kinds.

Maybe a deeper question is where to small scale wineries get their grapes/juice/kits or what do they use?

KBradt83 said:

Is viable to make and sell wine using kits?

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Simply put, .... no...especially cosidering the costs of the kits and the legal hoops you'd have to jump through to be able to legally do so....as far as small scale wineries' supplies, I have no idea, but seriously doubt it's from kits.....just sayin'

It would probably depend on the legalities of making wine in whatever jurisdiction the craft brewhouse was in.

You can buy high end 6 gallon all inclusive wine ingredient kits for $150 to $200 which works out to around $5 to $6 a bottle. You could potentially save money by sourcing the grapes/skins outside of kit form and just buy the other ingredients and finings. Rather than bottle you could keg and age in the keg or leave in a carboy to age then keg to dispense which would save the cost and hassle of bottling. Many bars are adopting kegged wine

The problem with many (most?) red wine kits are that you need to age them a year for them to get really good and 2 years to become excellent imo. It is probably doable but maybe not a huge money maker and likely a big pita.

OK, I'll go the other way....YES...but it will be truly small scale. Some of the low end kits will have wine ready pretty quick, not great wine, but wine. As stated above, the better kits will take time. Wine making makes beer brewing seem like a drag race start to finish. But, if you have the room, the time, and the law allows, it could be a fun experiment. Selling wine by the glass, I could see you turning a buck on the deal.

If you have the room (and it may fit the laws better) you might consider having the customers buy, make, and store the wine kits at your place...then they gotta come back and work the steps, have fun, and buy your beer while they wait for their wines to be ready. Just a thought...but rows of wine filled carboys are pretty cool looking!

I know of a couple of places that do exactly this! One have a "brew on premises" license and both also make kits for tastings and sale.

It makes me laugh, as some of the cheap winexpert kits have a price tag of $20/bottle!

This is in Texas, and both places (about 10 miles apart) are open as "wineries" with tasting room and sales, but I have never seen customers in either one. I went into the first one when I saw "Texas Winery" and when I asked about the winemaking, the owner proudly showed me around. That's why she showed me the kits they make and sell, and the brands. I actually know far more about winemaking than she did.

So it's possible for sure. You'd need a winery license, of course, but they are very easy to get in most states. Brewery licenses are far more difficult to get, and you'd have to choose beer OR wine, not both. But winery licenses are usually no problem at all.

I don't think that you'll be open very long making and selling wine kits, they won't stand up to the scrutiny of the experienced wine lover\drinker.
I would highly recommend sourcing fresh grapes and learning how to make a much better product, no disrespect intended.

Only place I know of doing this is primarily a cider mill; same licensing. If you could team up with an existing company and share licensing by producing on the same premises, maybe this could work.

Would there be much cost saving by sourcing grapes vs buying juice kits? Is it just quality and control?

KBradt83 said:

Would there be much cost saving by sourcing grapes vs buying juice kits? Is it just quality and control?

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Yes, there would be a huge cost savings.

But it's not "just quality and control"- making wine is easy. Making good wine is difficult. Making great wine is very difficult. You need to do acid adjustments, MLF, etc. Sourcing great grapes is just the start.

They want to sell cheap wine in a beer pub, nobody is going to notice its cheap wine in a beer pub. What country are you in? You might be better off getting cheaper buckets of grape juice and fermenting that. WVMJ

Many bars buy their wines for 5$ a bottle.... then turn around and sell it @ 5$ a glass. YES, I think you could make money off this. The idea of adding another "Craft" aspect to your business is a great idea in today's growing market.

Just make sure you get your licensing in order! Good luck.