Fun way to get into Winemaking

Yesterday the wife and I were doing some shopping and stopped for a coffee. Right next door there was a place called Vintner's Circle. We spent about 20 minutes chatting with the owners Stan and Joanne and I was impressed.

Here's how it works: You pick a style of wine from an array of available kits. You pour the juice in the primary fermenter, add any ingredients suggested, the yeast, and let the wine ferment. About a week later (and my timetable may be wrong) you'll return to put it into a secondary fermenter (awesome carboy cozy included!!!) On your next trip you'll stir up the wine to release CO2 and add your clarifiers. About a week or more later you'll go back to bottle the wine.

The prices are fair...it's a business so he has to make money. You'll end up getting close to 30 bottles, and spend about $10 a bottle. That includes your kit, the bottles, personalized labels and the use of their equipment.

For that price, how is the wine? The wines I tasted there (made on the premises from the available kits) were better than anything I've made at home from grapes. I would pay $10 or more for a bottle of these wines in a store. They were really, really good.

Here's the lowdown: If you like wine and would like to try it out; this is for you. If you want to make your own wine but don't want to invest in all the equipment at first; this is for you. If you'd love the idea of showing up on a friends' deck with a bottle of wine, oh and it just happens to be one you made, and it just happens to be delicious; this is for you.

Blog note: I know I keep saying I'm going to post more often. I'm not promising anything, but I have a few wine things going on, and have recently started making beer. I expect I'll have more blogging material.

It's nice out...grab a glass and head to the porch. You'll be happy you did.