Think you are going to save money-think again!

I mentioned on my last post that I was going to write about the costs involved in making your own wine. Understanding the costs involved is important for clarifing your reasons for starting this hobby. Think you are going to save money, think again!...

Below is the cost breakdown for two of the wines I'm making this year, the Nebbiolo and the Sauvignon Blanc. I'm going to divide the costs into three sections for reasons that I hope to make clear... Also I'm using current prices as quoted on my favorite wine making supply store.

1. "fixed" cost per bottle
2. Cost of the grapes
3. Equipment

1. "Fixed" cost per bottle

These are "fixed" costs since they typically do not change with the variety of the wine I'm making, e.g. a $1.25 cost per glass bottle does not change depending on the wine put into it.

Wine Bottle	$1.25	Yes I recycle, but need to buy also. Some times it's worth buying 2 buck chuck just for the glass!
Corks	$.23	I use 1 3/4" Agglomerated corks...e.g. easy to work with, good compromise between quality and price.
Label	$.25	an estimate of paper and Ink costs. I print my own labels on self stick label stock 4 per page
Chemicals	$.40	Yeast, ML culture, Potassium Metabisulfate, yeast food, etc.
Cap	$.10	These are the metalic heat shrink capsules. Probably the lowest cost cap... I use wax and also plastic slip on when I can find them .
Total per bottle	$2.23	So already it's more expensive than 2 buck chuck!

2. Cost of the grapes....

Nebbiolo	$2.60 per bottle	$.75/lb x 250 lb = $ 187.50 yield @ 6 cases
Sauvignon Blanc	$1.88	$180 for 22 gallons yield @ 8 cases

3. Equipment: I think it's best to look at the equipment costs as a startup or investiment cost and then perhaps a yearly replacement or maintenance cost.

So for startup costs for a typical 6 case {250lbs of grapes} I think you'll need:

Cusher/destemmer -- probably don't need one, most grape suppliers will crush for you at grape pickup time.

Press: you need one, or at least be able to rent one: new #35 press --$435 This is the press I have, and I expect to be the only press I'll ever need. Rentals run about $35 a day.

Siphon hoses, rubber stoppers, fermentation locks, glass carboys, Hydrometer = @ $110

Wine Pump: not needed but recommended... I use a siphon hose to move all my wine around. However, to do this I have to be able to lift carboys up onto a counter to get the siphon to flow {heavy, arkward...}... you should consider a pump. Low end cost @ $140

Bottle Filler: for bottling less than 15 cases at a time, use an inexpensive filler tube = $4

Bottle Corker: You should have your own. While you could get by with a $25 hand corker, I recommend the Italian Floor corker at $125. It will last a lifetime.

So I would say it takes about $415 to get started if you rent a press... Of course if you can borrow or share some of the equipment, costs will go down. Also you could skip some recommend equipment or go low end until you are convinced this is the hobby for you.

Yearly replacement or maintenance costs: I make about 60 gallons a year, and find that I typically spend anywhere from $20-$50 for more minor equipment, e.g. stoppers, fermentation locks, etc.

What's it all mean...... It means that my Nebbiolo costs me $4.83 a bottle to produce, not counting equipment costs, time, car wear and tear and gasoline.

The Sauvignon blanc cost less at $4.03 a bottle.

Are these costs typical? If anything, I'd say they are on the low side, due to great deals on the grapes.

Since there are plenty of good wines out there to be had for under$7.00 a bottle, you have to be making very good wine to beat the cost of buying retail.

I've made a few wines that I think would justify a $20 bottle price, but my typical wine costing me @ $5.00 to produce could be had retail for about the same price with careful shopping.....throw in equipment and time and you're losing money!

So why make wine? It's a hobby! You do it because you enjoy it! The making of wine, learning about wine, sharing your wine with friends, the bottling parties! and of course drinking wine!

Nebbiolo and Zinfandel - Day 10 Pressing

Sept. 20. This is day 10 for the Nebbiolo and Zinfandel, and it's time to press. The fermentation was a fast one lasting about 8 days. I let the must sit for another two days to hopefully extract more color and some tannins since it seemed like the wine(s) will be light in color and body.

You can tell when the fermentation is finished by measuring the brix, or by the amount of CO2 coming off when you punch the cap down. Measuring the brix will give you a false reading since the must now contains alcohol which is lighter than water... there should be a formula someplace for adjusting the reading..... I should research that.... anyone know? please comment!

Anyway, when the CO2 has blown off the must it is time to press, since the wine is now getting air exposure.

Step 1: is getting all the equipment ready... If you cleaned everything from your last pressing; it's not too much work. See the pic on the right... clean press, catch bucket, clean carboy waiting...

Step 2 :I like to rack off as much of the "free run" wine as possible. I found a great tool to aid in this step... it's a stainless steel tube about 2 feet long with holes in the sides. It is wide enough to insert a racking hose into it. The holes in the tube will allow the wine in and keep the skins out...

Step 3: While I'm racking off the free run, I use a bucket to scoop out the skins and fill the press. My wife watches the catch bucket under the press, and changes the full bucket for a empty one as needed. The wine is poured into the carboys.

Step 4: When the press is full, put on the top, add the wood blocks and press. Ratchet down the blocks, watch the wine flow, wait for the pressure to ease, then repeat.... You're done when the resistance makes it very difficult to ratchet down the blocks another step, or the handle gets down to the top of the basket.

Step 5: be sure to taste the new wine. Yes, the wine will be changing quite a bit over the next couple of years, but this first taste is telling; how is the color, what's the tannin level, high or low acid, any off odors, varietal character in the nose, etc. See the video where Doris, my wife and I taste the Nebbiolo and Zinfandel.

Step 5: Add fermentation locks to all the carboys, and move them into the cellar. Not an easy step for me as the cellar is full!

Step 6: Clean everything...this step takes as much time as all the previous ones... So we saved some time by pressing both the Nebbiolo and Zinfandel one after the other.

Here's a video of the process and first taste of the reds.

And fitting the carboys into the cellar....

Nebbiolo and Zinfandel - Day 6 ML addition

Sept. 16: It looks like the Nebbiolo and Zinfandel are racing along toward finishing the fermentation. I think this fast fermentation is due to warmer daytime temps, and nights not being cool enough.

I would call 10 day fermentation normal for my wines. 7 days is a fast fermentation.

So I'm a little worried about color and tannin extraction. The Zinfandel seems to have more color than the Nebbiolo, which is reverse of what I expected....

I added the ML culture and yeast food to help finish the fermentation. I'll probably let the must sit for two days before I press... So it looks like Monday for pressing the red wines.

Nebbiolo and Zinfandel Grape Pickup

On Thursday Sept. 10, I picked up the Nebbiolo and Zinfandel grapes from Villa Spatafora.

When I arrived, the vineyard workers had everything ready to go, so the entire crushing/de-stemming and loading into my car took only 15 minutes!

The Nebbiolo and Zinfandel grapes bins were sitting side by side, and I couldn't tell which one was which! A quick taste test confirmed what the workers told me... the Nebbiolo grapes were the ones with the chewy skins!

Don't laugh, it's not easy...On the drive over my wife was reading me a story about a large winery owner that got sued for selling Zinfandel as Cabernet Sauvignon...

Not having any labels with me, I had to remember which containers were Nebbiolo and which were Zinfandel! Let's see... Nebbiolo crushed first, into the car first, so it's the last containers out...

When I got home I measured the brix. The Nebbiolo came in at 25 brix, and the Zinfandel at 22.5 brix.

Grapes ready for Pickup Thursday - Nebbiolo

I received an email from the vineyard manager yesterday saying that the Nebbiolo grapes were ready! They are at 25 brix. We set the pickup date for Thursday at noon.

25 brix is a little high and hopefully they won't gain another point before I pick them up.... but the true brix number will be determined when we crush the grapes and all the bunches are mixed together. e.g. some bunches may be 22, some 26 brix.... it the average number that counts!

Red grapes that come in too low in brix are a problem... they can make thin and acidic wines. If the brix is too high, you can get a wine that is very high in alcohol or worst, a fermentation that does not finish leaving a sweet wine.

One way to deal with high brix red grapes is to add water to the crushed grapes to lower the brix number. You must also add acid to bring the acid level back up, e.g. compensate for the water addition... but more on that if I have to do it... hopefully not.

BTW: My grapes supplier for the Pinot Grip, Malvasia Bianca, and Nebbiolo I'm making this year is Villa Spatafora in Tracy, CA.
http://www.villaspatafora.com/

My contact is Bob Granvelle. Bob is a very nice guy and a pleasure to do business with. Prices are very good. email Bob at: spatafore@caldsl.com It's late in the year, but there still might be grapes available.