how would one "go all out" with winemaking?

[KevinM]

Like any other place, it takes time before recognition really hits a place. Sure, a region could be good, could be bad. But look:

Napa Valley, heard of it? Was a barely known place, no one took it seriously because the best wine was French.
Austrailian & New Zealand. Same thing. Wine from the regions were dirt cheap, unheard of, and then they got big and well known and now their prices are up there.
Michigan and some of the eastwards midwest states have wine regions, quite good ones, but they're not always announced. At this point, Michigan is mostly known for reislings, despite the other varietals. (I'm still annoyed that I missed out on this year's crops of Frontenac grapes @ 75 cents a pound. Each day I had it rained, except the one day I went to that winery with a friend to do some drink..tasting. I should have just told her to drink a few bottles while I go off and harvest.)

While it's true it takes our preconcieved notions a bit to work around that some place might have wine, and it might be good wine, it eventually gets there. (I didn't know they grew grapes in AZ or TX until just now.

As to the harvest, there are a few minor things, such as not brusing the fruit and such, but it's fairly straight forward from what I had looked up and was told by the land manager. The core bit is that the better you get at picking, the faster it goes. So while there's definately skill involved, if you just use some common sense (no squeezing the grapes in your fist etc) it'll probably be fine.

If you did this for a living, it'd be different. This year in many places (both california and michigain for example), rain was really causing havok on the harvest and everyone was trying to pick at the right times so the weather didn't cause rot.

What's interesting is that it seems that different vineyards have different options. I've heard of purchasing pre-picked grapes (haven't bothered yet since I didn't want to spend on equipment since it's all going to gluten free beer first or go at grapes with a potato masher and a bucket), and this year, I've heard of one that did u-pick (they said they had a bumper crop of them). And if I had managed get those, I'd still have gone at them with a potato masher to crush them and weights and cutting boards to press. No shame in trying and I already know the winery does well enough with their grapes.

 

[yakimabrewer]

Kevin-

You are absolutely correct. I apologize to the OP for "hijacking" the thread, and if I offended anyone else I am sorry.

Washington is very new to the wine world as well, and as Kevin said, it took time for the recognition to take place. It is very possible that within the next decade or two, TX, AZ, MI, etc will find their niche, do those varietals as good as, or better than, anywhere else, and become recognized for it.

 

[sheeshomatic]

See, this is exactly why I DON'T make wine. I'm too much of a control freak. My friends and family have asked me on multiple occasions after enjoying my beer - "Have you thought about making wine?".

My answer is always no. If I lived in a wine growing region, with access to a good vineyard where I could source my own grapes, then sure, I'd consider it. But my local home brew store has a HUGE wine making side, with crushers and filters and all the stuff you'd need - but they just have crates of grapes that say "merlot", or "chardonnay". I KNOW it's all about the grapes, the soil, the air, the weather, the proximity to salt, etc... And I know nothing of these grapes. They could have been grown off of the Garden State Parkway 20 miles from me for all I know.

With beer, if I nail all the things the OP spoke about, I can repeatably make a recipe taste nearly identical from one batch to another. Grain is like that. Breiss Pale 2 row is going to still be Breiss Pale 2 row next year, and that Special B I use from the same manufacturer is still going to add the same flavors. I can make some really knock your socks off good beer knowing this. I wouldn't want to make just passable wine (not saying you all do - just my own locale and resources).

 

[DoctorCAD]

See, this is exactly why I DON'T make wine. I'm too much of a control freak. My friends and family have asked me on multiple occasions after enjoying my beer - "Have you thought about making wine?".

My answer is always no. If I lived in a wine growing region, with access to a good vineyard where I could source my own grapes, then sure, I'd consider it. But my local home brew store has a HUGE wine making side, with crushers and filters and all the stuff you'd need - but they just have crates of grapes that say "merlot", or "chardonnay". I KNOW it's all about the grapes, the soil, the air, the weather, the proximity to salt, etc... And I know nothing of these grapes. They could have been grown off of the Garden State Parkway 20 miles from me for all I know.

With beer, if I nail all the things the OP spoke about, I can repeatably make a recipe taste nearly identical from one batch to another. Grain is like that. Breiss Pale 2 row is going to still be Breiss Pale 2 row next year, and that Special B I use from the same manufacturer is still going to add the same flavors. I can make some really knock your socks off good beer knowing this. I wouldn't want to make just passable wine (not saying you all do - just my own locale and resources).

I'd bet that if the Breiss Pale 2 row was grown off the Garden State Parkway the beer would taste differently!

ALL plants benefit from the correct growing conditions, not just grapes.

 

[sheeshomatic]

I'd bet that if the Breiss Pale 2 row was grown off the Garden State Parkway the beer would taste differently!

ALL plants benefit from the correct growing conditions, not just grapes.

No doubt about it, but it's a heck of a lot easier to ship grain than grapes. They store longer and I think it's quite easy to get very high quality grains week after week. I don't know if that's the case for grapes year after year.

Again - that's why *I* don't make wine. I just don't feel like I'm in enough control. I appreciate others efforts however.