Grape suppliers

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

I've been brewing beer for a few years now, but my wife really likes her wine. I wanted to make some for her at home. Where do you guys source your grapes? Most of the information I have found online just says to try local vineyards. Are there any reputable stores out there to buy from? Thanks!

 

[Mainer]

I'm in a similar situation. I've heard that lots of people start with grape concentrate, which can be purchased easily online or at your LHBS. It's the extract-brewing of wine, a good way to get your techniques down, not a good way to make a great wine. Or maybe that's just because I live in a terrible grape-growing region. YMMV.

 

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

Yeah, I didn't really wanna do the extract. I plan on buying the Blichmann Wine-easy and press them myself. It looks like I'm gonna have to visit my local vineyards to see if they can help.

 

[Mainer]

All we really get up here is wild Concord grapes. I threw some in a beer once, but they're reputed to make very bad wine.

 

[madscientist451]

I've been making wine for about 10+ years. I've picked grapes at the vineyard, bought west coast grapes and juice that comes in buckets.
I usually buy juice in buckets any more, its much less work and the wine comes out great. It costs about the same as buying grapes.
Also, my local vinyard owner retired and so I can't get local grapes any more. Most commercial wineries don't sell grapes.
Call around the LHBS in your area and see if they sell any. This time of year you can usually get buckets of juice imported from South America.
Otherwise, wait until September.
My LHBS sponsors a wine club, and I've had some decent wine from kits, but never tried to make a kit wine myself.
If your are just starting out, try a white wine. I use Vintners Harvest yeast and its ready in 6-9 months. Red wine takes much longer to mature. A cool fermenting environment with a slow ferment is best for wine.
I'll be putting in some wine grapes next spring, If I can get the deer fence up this summer and the ground ready before winter.

 

[jgmillr1]

If you are wanting to make white wine, you can get 5gal pails of the juice any time of the year shipped to you from Walkers Wine Juice (http://walkersfruitbasket.com/). These are not kit wines. The quality is excellent and there are lots of varieties available. They also sell red grape juices and they make good fruit-forward sweetish wines, but aren't great bases for dry reds.

Definitely work with your LHBS to see what they have available in the fall. When I lived in the Portland, OR area, the store would take orders and the vineyard would bring the grapes down from Washington state for pickup. They would crush them right in the parking lot too for you if you wanted.

 

[LarMoeCur]

http://www.brehmvineyards.com/

If you want to make great wine order the grapes from these guys. Now fermenting a great wine will take some learning and sometime! It can take years before it's ready to drink. Making great beer is easy compared to great wine. I try to stay away from kits. With kits they pasteurize the juice, sometimes the musk comes in different bags. Leading me to believe that the juice and musk are not from the same harvest. Who knows? Does it matter? I'm not sure but I believe I can taste the difference. Does your wife like the local wines? Where the grapes are grown has a HUGE impact on how the wine will taste. Soil, climate, water, doesn't mater with grain but it all matters with grapes. I'm not a fan of Texas wines at all so I don't use Texas grapes. If the professionals can't make a wine I like why would I think I can? I can get Napa or Sonoma grapes for almost the same price. Now I love me some big bright Cali wines.

Anyway, with these guys you get to pick not only the type of grape but the region the grapes come from and the vineyard. The night the grapes are picked they are crushed, juiced, and frozen. Trust me when I say I live in Texas and from Cali to me they arrive still frozen solid!

Stay away from table grapes or juice grapes. They are purposely grown to be sweet. They make horrible wine.

 

[buMbLeB]

All the greatest wine makers harvest their own musk!

 

[jgmillr1]

http://www.brehmvineyards.com/
Stay away from table grapes or juice grapes. They are purposely grown to be sweet. They make horrible wine.

I've harvested and made plenty of wines using both traditional wine and table grape varieties (Catawba, Sheridan, Concord). The table grape wines can be foxy, depending on the degree of skin contact and ripeness. However, they are quite fruity in flavor and since they run higher in acid, they are best balanced with some back-sweetening.

The table grapes are usually quite a bit lower in sugar than wine grapes at harvest, with brix running 16-19, compared with some of the grapes grown in the long California season coming in over 25 brix. Table grapes used in wine making are certainly not grown to be sweet, since the foxiness increases with hang time on the vines. They do require additional sugar prior to fermentation and some acid management.

Table grapes can make refreshing quality wine in the hands of a skilled winemaker. The judgement that table grape wines are "horrible" is a statement of style and personal preference rather than an inherent flaw in those wines. It is important to keep that distinction in mind.

 

[LarMoeCur]

The table grapes are usually quite a bit lower in sugar than wine grapes at harvest, with brix running 16-19, compared with some of the grapes grown in the long California season coming in over 25 brix. Table grapes used in wine making are certainly not grown to be sweet, since the foxiness increases with hang time on the vines. They do require additional sugar prior to fermentation and some acid management.

Table grapes can make refreshing quality wine in the hands of a skilled winemaker. The judgement that table grape wines are "horrible" is a statement of style and personal preference rather than an inherent flaw in those wines. It is important to keep that distinction in mind.

You are correct. My brain works faster than my typing fingers.

I've never had a wine made with table grapes that worth drinking. And, I've had quite a few of them. And you are correct again that is my preference/opinion. Now, I'll take your word for it that it can be done. Not sure a new wine maker on his first attempt should try it.