I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

Dave Allyn wrote:

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Personally, I make wine with a few friends, and we split the results.
I'm kind of the brains behind the operation so to speak. We split the
results depening on who ponies up the cash for the
grapes/juice/equipment.

I'm also involving my parents as well... my father purchase a third of a
barrel of chardonnay that I am making.

I also plan to give some away as gifts as well, but when all is said and
done, I do drink quite more than the average amount of wine, on a slow
week I will drink 2 bottles, but on a good one 4 isn't out of the
question. My roommates and friends are usually partaking in some of the
wine I drink as well, so it's not all to myself :^)

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

"Dave Allyn" wrote:

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

Firstly, a 5-gallon batch will only yield about 4-gallons of wine, after all
the fining --- unless, of course, you top up, in which case you are
depleting your cellar supply, with the same volumetric effect. Then, there
is spillage and breakage and "quality assurance" sampling, and the
occasional batch that goes bad.

Secondly, a bottle a day is 365(.25) bottles per year, which is 73(.05)
gallons. Sounds like a lot? A bottle is only about 4 six-ounce glasses.
Many of us do have one or two glasses of wine with our meals and possibly
one or two more during the course of an evening. If there are two people in
the household who enjoy wine, a bottle a day is only 1/2 bottle per person.
This is not AA territory, IMO.

Thirdly, there are guests, parties (which can quickly empty a few cases),
and (as you mention) gifts.

And finally, one wishes to age their wine for a few years. Thus, during the
initial years of the hobby, one will be making more than one is consuming,
in order to build up a cellar. Eventually, after 4-6 years, one will slow
down "production" to match annual consumption.

When I started out making my own wine, I made a few one-gallon batches. When
they worked out successfully, I started making a new batch almost every
week --- whatever fruit was on sale that week became wine. Eventually, I
slowed down to fewer, but larger batches. In September, I make a few
ten-gallon batches of vinafera (Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese). In November,
I make a few ten-gallon batches of Scrumpy. In January, I make a few batches
from the Chilean grape harvest. In Spring, from Concord juice. And in late
summer, from Midnight Beauty "table grapes". And, I do a few 1-gallon
"experimentals" when I'm in the mood, or some sort of fruit falls my way.
That gives me my statutory 100 gallons, and a bit of spare time for enjoying
it.

I probably produce small amounts compared to a lot of people on here, but I
do not have anything left from my first year. I'm working at setting up my
cellar. I don't drink that much either, but my friends like to try my wine
when we get together. My parents like this one wine I make, so I send
bottles home with them, or I take a bottle up when we visit. I also have a
couple of in-laws who like to drink wine too - so there goes a few more
bottles. For the first time this year, I'm giving a wine gift to those who
save their wine bottles for me. Believe me, it goes.... I'm up to making
about 12 gallons a year, which is the most I've ever made. Some of it needs
to sit for a year or two after bottling. The wine I have available to drink
is not as much as I would like. I will probably make more next year.
Darlene

"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
...
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

I don't drink alcoholic beverages at all but friends and relatives
releive me of all I produce. I usually produce around 50 gallons per
year

Later,
A.J. Rawls
Anchorage, Alaska, USA

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:52 -0500, Dave Allyn
wrote:

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

you're right, Dave...
the joy is in the creating,
and the joy is also in the drinking..
and the joy is in the giving away of wine and having friends say: that was
GREAT!
my secretary tells me she likes mine better than the wine she buys at the
store.
what a compliment!
And the joy is in the collecting...
The joy is in the throwing away of stuff that's gone bad...
It's just fun...
Today I picked a few more concords to top off my juice at 6 gallons pressed,
processed juice...
But I left behind a whole bunch of grapes on the vine that a neighbour said
I could have as much as I wanted of....it was hard to let it go...but I can
only make so much,
and my wife also asks me: when's it going to stop...
Well, I have plans for raspberry, rhubarb, and maybe jalapeno wine...
jalapeno wine? yes, the joy is in the experimenting too!

That's for me, anyway.
Good question!
take care,
Cheers.
Rick Vanderwal
Fremont, MI



"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
...
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

Fortunately, my wife may not drink as much as I, but she drinks more
regularly. In other words, she never puts the brakes on. And the
hardest thing to do is build a quality cellar. What I thought was good
3 years ago, I have now surpassed in quality with newer wines. As I
find better sources of fruit, of course, my wine gets better. If I go
down to the basement, and don't want to pull a certain bottle, that
bin becomes gifts. And making wine in one gallon, or even 5 gallon
batches, is something I don't do. If it is good, it will be gone
before it ages. Usually my batches are in stainless steel beer kegs.
Last year I made about 150 gallons, with about 50 gallons still
unbottled. ( Very tannic syrah and nebbiola plus a few small batches
of others) This year I will do only about 100 due to quality problems
in Pa and NY.
Tim
you're right, Dave...
the joy is in the creating,
and the joy is also in the drinking..
and the joy is in the giving away of wine and having friends say: that was
GREAT!
my secretary tells me she likes mine better than the wine she buys at the
store.
what a compliment!
And the joy is in the collecting...
The joy is in the throwing away of stuff that's gone bad...
It's just fun...
Today I picked a few more concords to top off my juice at 6 gallons pressed,
processed juice...
But I left behind a whole bunch of grapes on the vine that a neighbour said
I could have as much as I wanted of....it was hard to let it go...but I can
only make so much,
and my wife also asks me: when's it going to stop...
Well, I have plans for raspberry, rhubarb, and maybe jalapeno wine...
jalapeno wine? yes, the joy is in the experimenting too!

That's for me, anyway.
Good question!
take care,
Cheers.
Rick Vanderwal
Fremont, MI



"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
...
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

Dad put a "lean to" addition on the "winery", little house out behind the
house. I guess you could technically call it the "jug room" :-) My sister
and I have offen speculated what we will do, when unfortunately, that time
comes.

Fred

"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
...
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

I don't drink all that much either. I just started making it this
year and am trying to "build up" my cellar. I make 1 gallon batches
of fruit wine and 6 gallon kits in between so the fruit wine can age.
I figure I go through 2 bottles a week thru the summer and a bit less
at other parts of the year. Why the difference? I drink it while I'm
grilling.

My first kit yielded 28 bottles. I gave away 12 bottles. Brings that
to 16. I have 2 tucked away for thanksgiving and 2 for christmas.
That's 12. I had a party and went thru 2. That's 10 bottles left
from that original 28 bottles.

Believe it or not, it disappears fast. I found that when I get into a
conversation with friends that don't know I make wine, when the
subject comes up, they want to try it. I figure that at $2 or so a
bottle, I give it away quite easily.

Now when it comes to my fruit wine, that's rarely given away.

Greg

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:52 -0500, Dave Allyn
wrote:

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

thanks in advance...


email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

Greg Smith

Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail

"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
....
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine.

My wife cannot drink as much the past couple of years because of some
medications. We do drink a bottle maybe three times a week. In the past
year, I've been putting some in 12 oz. bottles for times that I'd like wine
and my wife does not.

I take a bottle to work for lunch every now and again and share it with one
or two others. (I don't operate machinery and it is legal)

Any time we go to dinner at friend's homes we take a bottle or two, and
gifts for assorted holidays or special occasions. They also return the
bottles or they know their source may just dry up!

In all, I guess I go through 200+ bottles a year. If I had to buy wine at
retail prices, I'd drink less of it. And I'd give less as gifts.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

so the basic consensus is a bottle or two a week, and the rest is
either storage for future, or gifts.... correct?


On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 02:26:15 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Dave Allyn" wrote in message
...
I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine.

My wife cannot drink as much the past couple of years because of some
medications. We do drink a bottle maybe three times a week. In the past
year, I've been putting some in 12 oz. bottles for times that I'd like wine
and my wife does not.

I take a bottle to work for lunch every now and again and share it with one
or two others. (I don't operate machinery and it is legal)

Any time we go to dinner at friend's homes we take a bottle or two, and
gifts for assorted holidays or special occasions. They also return the
bottles or they know their source may just dry up!

In all, I guess I go through 200+ bottles a year. If I had to buy wine at
retail prices, I'd drink less of it. And I'd give less as gifts.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome





email: dallyn_spam at yahoo dot com
please respond in this NG so others
can share your wisdom as well!

"Dave Allyn" wrote:

so the basic consensus is a bottle or two a week, and the rest is
either storage for future, or gifts.... correct?

No, no, Dave! A bottle or two a DAY, and the rest is for wot you said.

[I don't have a drinking problem. I drink. I get drunk. I pass out. No
problem!]

Just joking, kids.

Negodki,
Where do you get Chilean grapes?
Tim

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

Firstly, a 5-gallon batch will only yield about 4-gallons of wine, after all
the fining --- unless, of course, you top up, in which case you are
depleting your cellar supply, with the same volumetric effect. Then, there
is spillage and breakage and "quality assurance" sampling, and the
occasional batch that goes bad.

Secondly, a bottle a day is 365(.25) bottles per year, which is 73(.05)
gallons. Sounds like a lot? A bottle is only about 4 six-ounce glasses.
Many of us do have one or two glasses of wine with our meals and possibly
one or two more during the course of an evening. If there are two people in
the household who enjoy wine, a bottle a day is only 1/2 bottle per person.
This is not AA territory, IMO.

Thirdly, there are guests, parties (which can quickly empty a few cases),
and (as you mention) gifts.

And finally, one wishes to age their wine for a few years. Thus, during the
initial years of the hobby, one will be making more than one is consuming,
in order to build up a cellar. Eventually, after 4-6 years, one will slow
down "production" to match annual consumption.

When I started out making my own wine, I made a few one-gallon batches. When
they worked out successfully, I started making a new batch almost every
week --- whatever fruit was on sale that week became wine. Eventually, I
slowed down to fewer, but larger batches. In September, I make a few
ten-gallon batches of vinafera (Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese). In November,
I make a few ten-gallon batches of Scrumpy. In January, I make a few batches
from the Chilean grape harvest. In Spring, from Concord juice. And in late
summer, from Midnight Beauty "table grapes". And, I do a few 1-gallon
"experimentals" when I'm in the mood, or some sort of fruit falls my way.
That gives me my statutory 100 gallons, and a bit of spare time for enjoying
it.

In my humble opinion the wine bottle size we typically use has become the
standard because most people find this about right for a couple with dinner.
And what is more civilized (and romantic!) than enjoying dinner and a bottle
with the wife of your youth? (It gets to be a habit after 35 years!) and if
it is good now and then, some of us conclude, it is good every day! Hence
the 100 gal limit. (365 bottles for you and wife, 135 for parties, gifts,
bad experiments, etc.). It only takes about one third acre of grapes to
provide this, and once you have it planted and growing, and your barrels and
equipment paid for, you may have this wonderful extravagance for almost no
expense!

"Negodki" wrote in message
...
"Dave Allyn" wrote:

I know I am not a big drinker, but I don't understand what some of you
do with your wine. In the thred "what's fermenting" some people have
listed enough wine that is activly fermenting to make in excess of 200
bottles! I understand the joy is in the creating. that is for me
too. but what do you do with that much wine? that's almost a bottle
a day! some are even more. Is it more of a collection thing? never
to drink some of it? give away as presents?

Please understand. I am not trying to be critical. This is mearly
ignorance. I like to build things out of wood as well, those
projects I can always sell. even then I have a hard time finding
homes when I make more than I can use. I ultimatly had to slow down
the making, as there was no where to put them. how is this handled
with wine??

Firstly, a 5-gallon batch will only yield about 4-gallons of wine, after
all
the fining --- unless, of course, you top up, in which case you are
depleting your cellar supply, with the same volumetric effect. Then, there
is spillage and breakage and "quality assurance" sampling, and the
occasional batch that goes bad.

Secondly, a bottle a day is 365(.25) bottles per year, which is 73(.05)
gallons. Sounds like a lot? A bottle is only about 4 six-ounce glasses.
Many of us do have one or two glasses of wine with our meals and possibly
one or two more during the course of an evening. If there are two people
in
the household who enjoy wine, a bottle a day is only 1/2 bottle per
person.
This is not AA territory, IMO.

Thirdly, there are guests, parties (which can quickly empty a few cases),
and (as you mention) gifts.

And finally, one wishes to age their wine for a few years. Thus, during
the
initial years of the hobby, one will be making more than one is consuming,
in order to build up a cellar. Eventually, after 4-6 years, one will slow
down "production" to match annual consumption.

When I started out making my own wine, I made a few one-gallon batches.
When
they worked out successfully, I started making a new batch almost every
week --- whatever fruit was on sale that week became wine. Eventually, I
slowed down to fewer, but larger batches. In September, I make a few
ten-gallon batches of vinafera (Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese). In
November,
I make a few ten-gallon batches of Scrumpy. In January, I make a few
batches
from the Chilean grape harvest. In Spring, from Concord juice. And in late
summer, from Midnight Beauty "table grapes". And, I do a few 1-gallon
"experimentals" when I'm in the mood, or some sort of fruit falls my way.
That gives me my statutory 100 gallons, and a bit of spare time for
enjoying
it.

"Tim McNally" wrote:

Negodki,
Where do you get Chilean grapes?
Tim

Aconcagua. In January, my local grocery store imports and sells some sort of
red "table grape" (for only 69 cents a pound) which makes an excellent
"white Zinfandel" type wine. The Brix is a bit low (17-18), but the acid
(.7-8) , pH (3.1-3.3), and tannin levels are ideal. With a bit of
chapitalization (fancy french word for adding sugar), it works out very
nice. I discovered this one year when I was unable to purchase any wine
grapes during the fall, and decided to see what I could do with table
grapes. I've been making it every year since.

Since I have no idea what the varietal is, we've named the wine "Chilly
Vinny" (a play on 'vino [de uvas] chileanos', and much easier to say when
drinking).