Winemaking with your own grapes!

One of the best feelings is getting a recipe from someone.

I especially like getting the recipes that have been handed down for generations.

We were given a recipe for wine...and when we moved into a house with concord grapes well established...we could hardly resist.

Everything starting coming together, like the universe wanted us to make our own vino!

Test any of these out...if you dare!

The grapes were picked and mashed.

The boys apparently had a hilarious time mashing with feet in plastic bags.

Camera was AWOL at the time...

We borrowed some carboys...

Ches is some sort of engineering genius...

Tupperware, black electric tape and showerhead hose.

The two weeks we had to wait were almost too much.

The suspense was killing us...

On the two week annisersary, we used the dishwasher on a cycle with

white vinegar just to sanitize the operation.

Another high-tech contraption.

Restaurant grade strainer (borrowed) and

a camping cooler (washed out in the bathtub)

Pouring into the coolers to strain repeatedly turned out to be

a lot more work than we intended...but you can't turn back at this point!

A corker in action...also borrowed.

The bottles and corks were purchased in Kingston at Cask & Keg at Bayridge & Princess.

The guy was so impressed we didn't use a kit that he threw in the corks for free...

Then wished us luck!

We started running out of bottles (I only bought 30),

so we started using just about any glass container not nailed down.

I started calling it Desert Lake Hooch.

It's been a few weeks since bottling and we've enjoyed a bottle here and there.

It's especially nice when you're sitting next to the fireplace on a cool night.

If I were to comment on what it takes like...

I'd have to say it tastes more like a hard fruit juice than it does wine.

Some bottles are sweeter than others.  Some bottle blew their corks sitting in our basement.

It really does prove to be true...you need head room between your liquids and your cork.

The funny part was when one shot out in the basement, hit the ceiling...right under my head while I was sleeping.

It sounded like a shot gun...which actually didn't surprise me...it's duck hunting season in my area.

We will definitely be reading up on wine making and growing wine making grapes.

Hopefully we will have a better idea of what we're doing by next spring...

That is...if we don't spend the winter drinking our wine...and forgetting to research...

Has anyone made their own wine? 

I'd love to hear about your lessons learned and stories!