Why do you make wine?

[DamnRedhead]

Hey All,
I've been homebrewing for a few years and I'm making some (admittedly) awesome brews through test and learn, with a ton of 1 gallon batches. Unfortunately, my girlfriend isn't quite as into beer as I am, and because I love her, I decided to look into home wine making. I figured it wasn't too different so I did some reading, learned a few basic nuances, and I am confident in my abilities from a technical standpoint.

My question is simple... why do you make wine? I started brewing beer because I like to drink it, and was interested in how to make it different. After years of practice, I love to play with new styles and ingredients, and am always fine tuning my skills.

Do you like to use the wine kits? Are they worth it? I see them essentially like a malt extract kit... safe, good, but nothing amazing. Are kits good starters? I figure for that price I better be getting better quality wine for the price than commercially available, at a minimum. If that's not the case, where can I get some good grapes to start?

 

[Kent88]

Because it is fun and sometimes it tastes pretty good. Plus it can be easier than beer making.

I make fruit wines and I'll admit that they don't all turn out well. I made some strawberry wine that really just tasted like strawberries that were well past their prime. Pear and peach wine you need to use ridiculous amounts of fruit to get the fruit character to come through and I learned that the hard way. I'm still trying to get plain mead figured out.

But when you get a batch that turns out well, it is fantastic. I've made rhubarb wine and rhubarb mead that were absolutely fantastic. I have some blueberry wine I just bottled about a month or so ago that is also fantastic. The first wine I made, an apple wine, turned out well despite me leaving a cinnamon stick in there for way to long.

The wine kit I have used was the equipment and powders/finings/whatever for small batches to make fruit wine and it was a pretty good kit. I bought a 1-gallon merlot kit with grape juice recently and I used it in an experimental pyment batch, but that isn't bottled yet. I don't know where one would source bunches of grapes, or where to get the equipment for pressing/extracting.

And they can be easier than beer making. I have a friend who just had a kid and he is taking a beermaking hiatus and making some fruit wine because it is so much easier. You prepare the fruit at your leisure, you add some sugar, yeast nutrient and some water, mix it up, add the campden tablets, add the yeast the next day, and then you hardly mess with it until you rack it, and then you hardly mess with it until you rack it again or bottle it. No boiling, no hop additions, extremely low risk of an out-of-control krausen, no carbonating.

 

[beerlover77]

Whites and Rose wines usually turn out pretty good from kits. The only Red kits that I have liked are the super high end ones and it takes at least 18 months until they are drinkable.
The more you pay, the more unconcentrated the grape juice is and usually of higher quality.

 

[AkTom]

I started with a wine kit for my wife. We had a bottle from a friends wedding. I made the same one. Turned out great. I've made several kits. I also make Dragons Blood. It is frozen fruit wine. I love it. I absolutely urge you you to get a kit. Do some reading here and over at winemakingtalk.com .

 

[Yooper]

I started making wine many years ago- and I've made some wonderful wines that have aged beautifully. I do a mix of kits (because they are fast) and fruit wines, as well as grape wines.

I don't drink that much wine, but we tend to have some wine with dinner. My husband is more of the wine drinker than I am, but I love a good bottle of wine at times.

 

[bernardsmith]

So here's the thing: wine kits are not really analogs of beer kits. Unless you live in a wine making area of the country and you can either grow or get varietal grapes in season or have growers that will sell you juice from their grapes you cannot make malbecs, rieslings, chardonays and the like. Barley is barley is barley...so it is the adjuncts that make the stout or the IPA but grape wines depend on the varietals of grapes and that is really what the "kit" provides. However, if you are not interested in making grape wines (and I am not) then you can make wines from just about any fruit (I have a fig wine in my fermenter), any vegetable (I have a turnip wine aging, and recently bottled a zuccini wine), from many (non toxic) flowers (from hibiscus to lilac), and from honey (mead) - I have a t'ej and a date bochet aging - and for such wines you do not need any "kit". BUT... if you don't drink wine then making wine may not be what you want.. Mind you, you use the same protocol for making cider as wine and cider has the same ABV as beer...

 

[jgmillr1]

We make wine b/c we like drinking wine. Simple as that.

There is plenty of room for you to put your unique touch on a wine or make a custom blend. As you gain experience your wines will get more consistent and better. You can make wine from just about anything so the sky is the limit. (I once even had a nice jalapeño wine.)

Kit wines are a good way to get started but are as limited as brewing with malt extracts. Once you figure out what you are doing, you will move on to grapes or non-kit juice. That is where the artistry really takes off.

 

[DoctorCAD]

There are hundreds of varieties of kits, let the girlfriend pick one and its a win-win for both of you. I suggest one of the "mist" kits or an "orchard breeze" kit. They come in tons of chick flavors. You get to make wine and she will have 30 bottles to share with her friends, heck, you might even like the wine too.

 

[SteveHoward]

I like wines you can buy, and now that I'm back in the US, I live in the middle of wine country in Northern California. I love tasting from the many, many local wineries. But that said:

I like to do things that the wineries don't do, including fruit wines. Apfelwein and mead variations are favorites of mine. I like to share the variations with friends when they come over, and since most of my friends are of Korean origin, they very often are adventurous with new drinks, and appreciative of a good drink they can't get in the store. I also do makgeolli occasionally, but that's not technically a wine - still fun with friends.

I like fermentation processes, and that's not just limited to wine since I also make yogurt, and kimchi is always being made in our house. Wine is the most visible and fun of the fermentation processes, though. It's a good, slow hobby.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I make wine for 2 main reasons:

1) because I have an abundance of blackberries, raspberries, muscadines, etc. As much as I love fresh fruit, there is only so much you can eat, and we don't eat much jam. So I wanted to find a way to use up the abundance.

2) I love to "craft" things, cheese, wine, cider, etc. When I give a loved one a bottle of wine or cider I am giving gift that is very personal; I dug the hole, I planted the vine, I tend it year after year, I gather and crush the fruit, etc, etc. You get the point. I find real satisfaction in participating all the way through the process.

 

[bassmang4]

If you already brew, you already have the equipment. So there’s really no additional investment other than the kit itself. Making a wine kit feels like cheating it’s so easy compared to beer. Dump juice in, add water and mix in some packets of stuff... A wine kit brew day is about a half hour compared to 4-6 for all grain beer.

The little lady likes wine and really likes having it on tap. The medium to higher end kits make ok to really good wine for a lot less than buying equivilant bottles. And also I do single bottle fills off the keg and give as home made gifts. Take growlers to parties. People seem to like the “you made this” thing even though with wine I don’t really feel like I did. I just mixed juice and water and let the yeast make wine.

 

[gregbathurst]

I make wine for 2 main reasons:

1) because I have an abundance of blackberries, raspberries, muscadines, etc. As much as I love fresh fruit, there is only so much you can eat, and we don't eat much jam. So I wanted to find a way to use up the abundance.

2) I love to "craft" things, cheese, wine, cider, etc. When I give a loved one a bottle of wine or cider I am giving gift that is very personal; I dug the hole, I planted the vine, I tend it year after year, I gather and crush the fruit, etc, etc. You get the point. I find real satisfaction in participating all the way through the process.

This pretty much covers it for me. I love fruit and I love the whole process.

 

[DTAB]

I make wine to use up the extra fruit in my yard. Turns out people really like my wine, so now it's also made because it's delicious!

 

[JimRausch]

Why do we brew/ferment anything. After all, there are now TONS of tasty beverages available. We all like the creative process, the ability to taste one of those commercial beverages and say "hmm I wonder if I can make that? Or maybe even better it?" Or we read about something and say "I'm going to do that!" I started brewing beer 6 years ago, started with Grafs and ciders 4 years ago, and 1 gallon batches of country wines 2 years ago- dandelion, peach, cranberry, maple so far. Sometime in the next couple weeks I'm going to start a 1G batch of mead. Why? Why not?

 

[mredge73]

I make wine because my wife bought me a barrel for my birthday one year thinking it could be used for beer. New oak barrels cannot be used for beer, must first run a few batches of red wine through them first or the oak flavor is overwhelming. Not only that it has to stay wet all the time. So I got into wine making; I am not a wine drinker and my wife hates reds. I have made 4 batches so far, aged 10 months or longer then bottled and given out as Christmas presents every year. I do enjoy it as I have an addiction to fermentation, but it is very expensive. Wine comes out wonderful, as good as any $25 bottle. I use wine expert selection kits, but I do not follow the directions as they are designed to get your glass wet asap and I have a barrel. If you are a wine person I do recommend it, if not it is still fun if you have the cash.

 

[Stake]

My question is simple... why do you make wine? I started brewing beer because I like to drink it, and was interested in how to make it different. After years of practice, I love to play with new styles and ingredients, and am always fine tuning my skills.

I enjoy both Wine and Beer and for reasons similar to yours... I like experimenting and controlling the outcome. Sometimes I like Malty sometimes I like Sweet

My first wine (a long time ago) was 5 lbs frozen blackberries, and 3 lbs table sugar and (1)Campden tablet, a food grade 5 gallon bucket, (to squish the juice out of the berries) (2) 1 gallon glass jugs and 2 airlocks, Yeast and time (patients, cleanliness, and write down things as you go, but you probably already know this)

https://www.wineturtle.com/homemade-blackberry-wine-recipe-in-4-easy-steps/

I've grown and learned since then. The above link was a great place to start and if you can brew beer, in my experience wine is easier...All the ingredients can me found at a local brew store and your local market should carry your fruit...

You can even make wine from frozen fruit juice (in the cans) there are a lot of recipes online for those and the ones I made turned out pretty good. I prefer fresh fruit when it's in season.

Hopefully you have enough information to get started and in my opinion there is nothing holding you back. Keep us posted on how things go.

 

[Saturn's Earth]

My question is simple... why do you make wine?

I started making wine because I went to a wine-making class some friends were putting on and discovered it is incredibly simple (the class members only made a pint of wine each). Other reasons I do it is because a glass of wine a day is supposed to be healthy, I like to make wine for the sacrament of the Lord's supper (communion), and because I'm into fermenting (foods, as well as drinks like kefir).

 

[Conehead]

I make wine because I live in Canada. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes. That pretty well says it all.

 

[Mallerstang]

I make wine because I live in Canada. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes. That pretty well says it all.

Well I will second that - it's insane how the prices keep going up and up, and they seem to particularly like hitting local craft beer with their liquor tax policy "improvements." All for our own good, of course.

But in addition to saving money I enjoy eating, drinking, cooking, playing with food, DIY, math, science, altering recipes, researching, keeping records, and generally doing things the hard way. Plus, I have a basement. So - I make wine!

 

[CanadianJesus]

I make wine (mead and other alcohols) because I can. I like how I can customise everything to my own liking. I enjoy tinkering. My other hobby is RC (Radio Control) aircraft. Making alcohol is a nice addition to that in my life. I can make something with my own hands and time, and end up with a product that I can enjoy and think to myself 'I made this'. It's also something I can do with my brother, and share the product with my friends so they can enjoy it too, unlike my aircraft where if they crash them (which they will), I am out possibly $100 or more in spare parts. Plus, making my own costs me pennies on the dollar compared to buying it at the store, and sometimes I can make it even better than what's available at my local liquor store (which in Ontario, the LCBO also sells wine and beer). I can also make things that aren't even sold in any stores around me. I only know where to find two different brands of mead, both are sub par to what I make on my own.

 

[Kent88]

I make wine because I live in Canada. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes. That pretty well says it all.

You want to talk it over at the Tim Hortons sometime, ya hooser? Its nice to sneak in a mickey under your toque to spike your double-double, 'eh?

 

[Blacksmith1]

….. any vegetable (I have a turnip wine aging, and recently bottled a zuccini wine)...

got a recipe for the zucchini? I have a bunch of frozen summer (yellow, crookneck) squash I need to do something with.

 

[bernardsmith]

This is zombie thread - long dead but brought back to life. OK, so here's a recipe for my most recent batch;

about 8 lbs of zucchini - chopped skins and all
1 gallon spring water
2.5 lbs of sugar
Boiled the zucc and sugar in the water for 20 minutes.
Allowed to cool overnight
Added pectic enzyme
Nutrient
Tannin
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Rehydrated yeast (71B) in water , pitched (8/16/18)
Strained vegetables about three or four days later
Fermented brut dry. Stabilized and backsweetened - Bottled 10/31/18
Cracked open a bottle last night and it was lovely

 

[Coffee49]

Hey All,
I've been homebrewing for a few years and I'm making some (admittedly) awesome brews through test and learn, with a ton of 1 gallon batches. Unfortunately, my girlfriend isn't quite as into beer as I am, and because I love her, I decided to look into home wine making. I figured it wasn't too different so I did some reading, learned a few basic nuances, and I am confident in my abilities from a technical standpoint.

My question is simple... why do you make wine? I started brewing beer because I like to drink it, and was interested in how to make it different. After years of practice, I love to play with new styles and ingredients, and am always fine tuning my skills.

Do you like to use the wine kits? Are they worth it? I see them essentially like a malt extract kit... safe, good, but nothing amazing. Are kits good starters? I figure for that price I better be getting better quality wine for the price than commercially available, at a minimum. If that's not the case, where can I get some good grapes to start?

I started making wine in 2007 to save a couple bucks per bottle from the retail price, since then I find myself saving 5-10 bucks per bottle depending on the juice or kit. Made errors and learned a lot. Now it is an addictive hobby and I find small batch wines can be better than retail varieties.

 

[ChrisVZ]

I make wine/beer because I enjoy creating things. Some of my other hobbies are woodworking, wood turning, 3D printing, and laser engraving/cutting. There is something enjoyable about sharing/showing something with someone and having them wonder just how you managed to make it.

 

[HTH1975]

I make wine because I wanted to see if I could make something at least as drinkable as an average £10 bottle.

In my part of the world, there are many fruits growing wild (blackberry, elderberry, damson, apples, pears) so the ingredients come free. It would be rude not to try making wine.

I also make jam - blackberry and elderberry is a very nice jam.

 

[madscientist451]

My hot G/F drinks all I can make....
Don't like wine all that much myself, but I like doing things for her.

 

[Daniele96]

Hey All,
I've been homebrewing for a few years and I'm making some (admittedly) awesome brews through test and learn, with a ton of 1 gallon batches. Unfortunately, my girlfriend isn't quite as into beer as I am, and because I love her, I decided to look into home wine making. I figured it wasn't too different so I did some reading, learned a few basic nuances, and I am confident in my abilities from a technical standpoint.

My question is simple... why do you make wine? I started brewing beer because I like to drink it, and was interested in how to make it different. After years of practice, I love to play with new styles and ingredients, and am always fine tuning my skills.

Do you like to use the wine kits? Are they worth it? I see them essentially like a malt extract kit... safe, good, but nothing amazing. Are kits good starters? I figure for that price I better be getting better quality wine for the price than commercially available, at a minimum. If that's not the case, where can I get some good grapes to start?

In Italy wine kit are not allowed. I have made wine all my life since I was a child when I used to help my grandparents. Now I produce wine because it is my job.

 

[MaxStout]

I have been brewing beer for a while, but before long I was lured into some wine-making. This forum has that effect. I'm always trying things. Granted my wines have been few, and usually simple, but they have turned out well. Just dabbling, really. But I enjoy it. I also like to make EdWort's Apfelwein. And roast coffee. And make rootbeer.