A friend of mine once told me that God makes wine in the vineyard and it is our job as winemakers not to screw it up…

Depending on what you believe, in the very least believe that ripened fruit drops off the vines and rots (ferments) on the ground.  So how hard can it be to make wine?  It is not hard, but there are a lot of steps and I hope to help you through them.  If there is a problem and I don’t have the answer, I will send you to links with information that I trust. 

Wine making is a labor of love.  I started when I was invited to make wine in a club of 5 families.  I made wine with them for 10 years before stepping out on my own. Even after 10 years crushing about 10,000 pounds of grapes a year, I was very nervous during my first crush last year.

Fortunately for all of us amateur winemakers, most people love to be around wine and being invited to help is a pleasure for some.  So, the first step is to gather your wine loving and adventurous friends and plan your crush day. 

When I made the decision to make wine at my house, I ordered all the equipment that I knew I needed to get from crush, to press, to wine in the barrel at one time and then I was the committed.  I crushed 2 thirty-gallon barrels of wine in the Fall of 2019. 

Who am I and why am I here? 

I have been in healthcare technology for the last 25 years of my career.  Many years ago, I wanted to make wine for gifts but found that it needed to stay in the barrel for a year, so I began brewing beer instead.  Fast forward to today.  I am inspired to write about something I love and that is a part of my every day: wine. 

Through this blog, my goal is to document the process step-by-step, adding helpful commentary and color from my experience.

In full disclosure, I will have affiliate links throughout the site and, if you make purchases, I will hopefully make enough money to sustain myself and this wine making educational endeavor. It takes a lot of wine drinking to make a lot of wine. So pour yourself a glass and let’s get started!