Making Wine at Home Versus Commercial Wine

In our journey to be more informed and understand the process that wine goes through, we began making our wine from kits in the Fall of 2010. We get our supplies through a local chain called Noble Grape who are very helpful and knowledgeable folks. Our first effort was a Chilean Malbec from a company called Cheeky Monkey (interesting name). They have a variety of kits that they provide and this was just one that grabbed our attention. Right out of the gate once you buy all the winemaking materials, we noticed that the process is very refined and very regimented. It is to the point where as long as you are reasonably clean and can sterilize your supplies and then follow the recipe, it is somewhat foolproof. That first batch turned into a wine we could drink almost right away (within a few weeks of bottling). The second kit we tried was from another producer, and though followed a similar 'recipe' was a very different product. It was a wine that required aging (not a shock), but in our zeal to drink the wine we didn't give it the time it needed to become good (or really enjoyable). Now, over a year later that same wine, now down to one bottle left, is actually worth drinking.

This begs the question, have you had any homemade wine that you sipped and thought to yourself "Oh God, I can't possibly drink this!" and then looked over at the anxious wannabe winemaker waiting for your approval and gave them the Thumbs Up or an "Mmmmmm"? 

Our impression is that given the price and effort that goes into home wine making the one thing that is missing from most peoples homemade cellar is time. We made it and we want it now. Well, as we know from the wine industry, other than Beaujolais Nouveau and some other examples, good wine takes time. Whether it be through malolactic fermentation, aging in oak or aging in the bottle, really good wineries don't tend to rush products out into the market until they are drinking well. If the homemade winemaker could take the same stance and begin releasing wine once it starts to lose the 'funk' that comes with making homemade wine (where funk = young), you might not have to slap on a smile for those bottles that were just corked last month.

If commercial wineries take the time and effort to watch how wine matures or to blend their wines for optimal flavour profiles, I think we can do the same.  We know that if we popped the cork on a wine we spent hard-earned money for and it had that homemade wine 'funk', that bottle would be going back.  Now that said, we also must keep our expectations in line with what we are purchasing.  If we get a wine kit and make that wine from say a Bordeaux blend of grapes, the end product is not going to taste like Chateau Margaux but it will be from our own hands and if we can give it the attention and time it deserves, we bet we will think it to be pretty darn good. 

So at this point, fear not commercial wine industry we will still be purchasing your products in mass quantities but hopefully this hobby will continue to give us some insight into what it takes to make really good wine, even if it is on a very micro-level.

Keep on drinking (and/or making wine)!

Chris & Shannon

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Wine Note: Duane Arsenault, an avid Unfussy Wine reader :) sent us the photo below that we wanted to share. He and his wife Tara MacGillivary Arsenault enjoyed the bottle of wine to the left this weekend.

This wine is from Casa Lapostolle in Chile and was the 2008 Wine Spectator Wine of the Year for the 2005 Vintage. 

Duane mentioned that it was a treat, so congrats to them for enjoying such a great wine from a great producer. 

Thanks for thinking of us Duane!