How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Make Wine at Home

[@fowlfables]

I'm growing a tiny vineyard, half a dozen vines each of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Enough to make maybe a dozen gallons of wine a year. Got my first decent harvest 2 years ago, and watched every video I could to get started. Thank you so much for what you do, it really means a lot to me.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thank you so much for the kind comments!!! I am glad I could help you and congrats on your little vineyard. That in itself can be a good bit more work than the making wine but is so rewarding.

[@jessiesroka]

I was wondering if I could get som seeds or a cutting of your cabernet? Please look out. I'll send u my address

[@aksub.4316]

During an earthquake Last winter one of my six gallon carbouy broke out the bottom, what a chore, and extremely disappointing it was a wild blueberry in long term storage, a year in the making, I've had great success in most of my endeavors for the Last 35 years and you have been part of it thank you.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Oh man that is frustrating! The one in the video was one of mine that cracked. I had just racked it and thankfully came by an hour or so later to find a big puddle. I probably lost about a quart but would have lost it all. Getting it out of the carboy with a crack all the way around the bottom was a little scary! One wrong move and it would be disaster. Thank you for the kind words also!!! I am glad I have helped you.

[@chrissewell1608]

Perhaps you should build some sort of floating, carbouy rack. That moves like a pendulom.

[@SirWussiePants]

One thing to note: If you are saving bottles to re-use dont put corks into screw cap bottles as the top may not be strong enough to handle the cork. You dont want to be pressing down on a cork and have the bottle break.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks!! I still cork screw caps with #9 corks. They are definitely not as secure though. The hole on a screw cap bottle is probably about 1/16 inch larger. At the end of the day, they have always worked but it isn't really ideal.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

That is a good point about them breaking though. That hadn't really occured to me, but I could see it happening with the wall thickness being so much thinner on the screw cap necks.

[@rexnex277]

I have been using number 9 corks in screw cap bottles for some time and have never had one break .

[@AmzBackyardOrchardandVineyard]

Our primary fermentation started yesterday on our first batch of 2 gallon mixed berry Melomel. Thanks for your videos. I believe we are at the $30 mark. We will probably back sweeten later for another ~ $10

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Nice, thank you!!! Yeah when you throw honey into the mix it is about a $2/bottle add on.

[@AM2PMReviews]

I made some Welch’s concentrate wine. It is great for my first time and no skins or seeds. Just some French oak and wine tannin and time. I didn’t add much sugar because it was from concentrate. It’s jammy obviously. But not bad at all. Just I think maybe a few more months of aging. The French oak really helped with flavors. I used Red Star Cuvée yeast. Now I do like the Winking Owl wines at Aldi for $3 you can’t go wrong. But I like making meads more.

[@alexlarsen6413]

Love so much to see you uploading the videos more often...I'm pretty sure I already mentioned this but it's worth repeating - you've got THE best home winemaking channel on youtube! 👍 I had been making wine for a long time before discovering your channel, but ever since I did come across it, I've learned so much more from you and have become way more confident. Regarding the store bought juices, there are quite good ones actually, at least in Europe. I've found a German DM - Drogerie Markt brand of juice, made out of Italian, unfiltered Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes and it's actually amazing for making red pyment - I love mead! It's a bit on the expensive side - 4€ per liter but well worth it. The specific gravity of the juice is at least 1.075, so not the ripest grapes but not far off either. In fact, the gravity is so high compared to regular juices that it's kind of an issue to technically make mead. I did it but it's 17.5%. Also, last year I found great German Pinot Noir grapes, or as they call it Spätburgunder for only 2€ ~ $2.15 per kilo...bought 80kg straight from this chilled place right next to the vineyard. I live in Scandinavia and basically buy grapes from Germany or Italy (the French don't sell even when they have a surplus 😡) while waiting for the climate to change here. ;) We have very few vineyards, literally the first ones ever planted maybe 15 - 20 years ago in the country, but let's just say the grapes aren't the best! Anyhow, I altogether made 20L of Pinot I've only just bottled several days ago - I actually oaked it with American oak. At 7 and a half months old currently, it's beyond just decent...I see great potential for it! And again, learned lots from you...keep them coming!! 🥂

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

THANK YOU!!!! That is good that you have some access to relatively premium juices. I imagine your climate is good bit cooler with a shorter growing season than France, which makes things difficult for fresh fruit. The modern hybrid grapes do continue to get better and better though. At some point they may meet or surpass the quality of good european/vinifera grapes.

[@colinmcintyre1769]

Love your channel, and before I've seen anything, as a mead maker, it's expensive if you want ot to taste good. As a hombrewer, I've started riddling and discourging my homebrews, im very proud to have gotten to the point I have, and it was almost all through youtube. Thank you!

[@glennlowder9654]

You talking about carboys. Sam’s has water for five $for 4 gal.they make great wine and you don’t need to wash them

[@Irishfan168]

What do you think about secondary or conditioning in Stainless steel corny kegs?

[@cmexus]

Thanks so much for the video and for the channel - you are the best! The way you broke down the economics of home wine making into 3 stages is so interesting and so true, certainly in my case. I wonder what is the next stage (#4)? I guess the next step could be going commercial. I see people do it, but can’t figure out how. Maybe you can explain in the next video? 😅

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thank you! I think Stage 4 may be running the numbers and trying to financially justify a winery, only to find that it is a really hard/risky way to make money compared to a traditional job. lol. There definitely is a stage where you just out grow your "Stage 3" equipment, especially if making wine with friends. At some point a good home operation looks very similar to a small winery operation.

[@MAR108]

Make the investment upfront buy stainless steel kegs, you can even buy second hand ss kegs for 50-60 dollars. You can ferment, transfer to a second keg and bottle from it aswell.

[@piotrszczotka7510]

Any model of Vinmetrica is the tool very much appreciated.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Yes, good point. I have the SC300 and it is very handy. At some point (Beyond the stages I covered in the video), you will want some better analytical equipment.

[@jimdent351]

Awesome a new video. Thanks!

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks Jim!

[@akdefense]

I appreciate your channel, knowledge & experience, it's helped me. I make country wine. When I was overseas I had two rectangular Stainless Steel 7.25 gallon tanks(13.5"W x 8"D x 18"H) made for $100, these are used for primary ferm, tight SS slip-on shoebox lid. I've got four 5 to 7 gallon glass carboys $50 total, for secondary ferm. One siphon, hydrometer, and misc stuff = $50. I also have altogether stopped using airlocks. Yeast = EC1118 for everything. I have many friends who drink $20 to $30 wines and they love my wine. I'm able to get my fruit free from friend's farms/orchards, raw cane sugar $14 for about 12 lbs, a batch = 6.5 gallons bottled [38 bottles]. I use flip-top, also called hinge-top bottles to reuse them and not have to "cork." My 42 bottles cost $48. My batches, depending on my goal, range from 13% to 18% alc. I've been making this for 3 years+ I do make an occasional Asian Pear batch at around 6.5% that my friends also love, sweet and mild. COST for me is $15 for 6.5 gallons or 38 bottles of some pretty good wine. My style of making Country Wine = Fruit + Yeast + Sugar + Water (+ sometimes powdered Tannin). During hot summer months I might add some Campden Tablets to the last rack before bottling, not always. I do NOT use anything but tap water to purify my carboys, bottles, and utensils, absolutely no chemicals. Cheers!

[@GEOPH2625]

Curious, is there anything wrong with using a flip top bottle for wine? Like the ones people put beer in

[@joeydecarlo2532]

Cool video. I would enjoy a vineyard update!

[@davordamjanovic893]

we have small vineyard and 2x 250L stainless stell containers, cast iron wooden press 80L I think, and crusher with destemming which we motorized. we use yest with starter and floating sugar mesuring thing. we dont use ph meter and we are not bottleing. For our situation bottling is just stupid and unefficient better just use SS container with float and enological oil.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thanks for the comment. I would be interested in hearing more about your setup. That is not common in the US. So you have a float that mostly covers the surface of the wine, and you are using enological oil as your barrier layer? Then pouring from a spout for a glass of wine?

[@davordamjanovic893]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel we have stainless steel containers for wine. The bottom of it is upside down cone shape (for trapping sediment), on top there is a hole for airlock, and when wine is fermenting we wrap top cover sides with transparent foil to airtighten it. Some version of this tank have 2 taps: 1 in the middle and 2nd almost at the bottom of a tank. When wine ferments or seddiment settles we clean up tank and put wine back in total 2-4 times. After 2nd clean up we put float but not the oil if wine is not clear enough. The oil is added after last clean up. When the wine is ready for drinking we put stainless steel float on top of the wine and there is couple of milimeter gaps on the sides of a tenk so there comes the oil. As I said the bottling is just waste of time and money for us bcz most of the wine is consumed at our place when ppl come. Wine is air tight and if we want some we just tap it from the tank into 0.5L, 1L or 2L jugs for wine. If we want to transfer wine somewhere else for party or some trip plastic bottles wont degrade wines taste instantly but over time. I would say if plastic bottles are stored properly wine changes taste after more than a week and are good enough compared to glass. Also less weight, higher capacity and not that easy to break.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Are the stainless containers available for purchase online somewhere that you know of or is there a specific brand you are using (Note, you can't post a link in the comments or it will get flagged as spam)? I would be interested in getting one. A lot of home beer brewers use conical fermenters that sound similar to what you mentioned, but I have not seen ones with a float for use with wine storage. There are also the variable volume fermenters that are stainless but use a bike tube style seal around a lid, rather than a float and oil.

[@davordamjanovic893]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel In Croatia you can go to any bigger hardware or farm store and they have them from 50L to 320L from company "Letina" (I checked site and they make a lot of professional ones too) and they are available in online stores too but for the US idk. We have 2 x 250L ones for over 20 years from different company and our uncle has 100L one with flat bottom. Just google "stainless steel wine tank with float" or "floating lid wine tank" and you will get the idea or check Letina site they have all sort of different types. Flat bottom ones are better suited for just storing wine but if you want to do everything in it, better take one with conical bottom bcz of sediment separation, some bigger ones even come with tap at the bottom of the cone. For the float there are 2 types that I know: inflatable and with oil. For inflatable you need to check pressure every 15 days as they say so the oil is way to go for me :D

[@davordamjanovic893]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel I am sorry I posted comment but after few min it was removed .... there were no links

[@VektrumSimulacrum]

Access to decent grapes or juice is the biggest obstacle for me. On the cider side of things it's quite a bit easier to get decent ingredients. It does start to get expensive again when you want to do something like a Cyser. Cost for decent honey can get kinda painful.

[@chrissewell1608]

I always thought bottling, and labeling to be a fun part. Its like crossing the finish line, to me! 😊 🍾🍷

[@engop406]

Love it, love it your videos!!! Thanks!

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Thank you!!!

[@NelsonZAPTM]

Why do you use carboys instead of stainless fermenters? I started brewing kit beer, now with a orchard I'm using the same equipment to make fruit wine and cider. Is there an advantage?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I don't really like the stainless variable volume fermenters for aging. The inner tube style seals need frequently pumped up or it will leak air. That area also becomes a fruit fly magnet. A carboy or demijohn is really a great vessel to age wine because the headspace and surface area is so small compared to the volume of the wine, and the glass is completely inert. Some grades of stainless (especially 303) will leach a lot of sulfur when in contact with the high acids of wine, which smells distinctly like rotten eggs. I ran into this on the Perlick adjustable flow keg faucets (which they claim to be 304, but a mass spectrometer test from a metallurgist buddy proved otherwise).

[@kgenuardi]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Would be curious to hear your opinions on aging red wine in oak barrels vs carboys. A lot of good oak alternatives out there but do you find your best red wines are aged in oak barrels? I've considered purchasing barrels for quite some time now and I know I would probably get better extraction but the maintenance seems to be the biggest hassle

[@cet6202]

How are you go to cork bottles that are all different?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Number 9 corks will seal in nearly any wine bottle. There are some that a Number 8 would obviously be better, but number 9 still works fine enough. A Portuguese or Italian corker doesn't care what height the bottle is. The spring loaded/locking base will adjust to whatever bottle you feed it.

[@mabrancaccio]

Does anyone have recommendations on a person or place that you could send your homemade wine to where it can be assessed and recommendations can be made?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

You can send it to the winemaker magazine international winemaking competition or look for a more local competition. the American Wine Society (AWS) often has small regional conferences with a competition. Local County Fairs will often have a winemaking competition, but I would not expect to get any real usable feedback from one of those.

[@Loretta-pl6km]

Wait, you just said we won't need a press if we are making white wine. How do you press the juice off the grapes then?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

If you are making white wine you can just buy the juice. Most places that will sell you grapes will also sell you varietal juices for wine grapes. If you have a vineyard you will need a press.

[@Loretta-pl6km]

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Ok, just wondering if I missed something. We have a small vineyard of Chardonnay grapes. This is our first year owning it.

[@rexnex277]

Some of those costings per bottle are less than stated because the equipment can be used for years without replacement.If you ignore the cost of the fruit that i pick (forrage) i can make a bottle of wine for less than $2 a bottle.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

The costs per bottle aren't including the equipment costs and are using the assumption that you are buying juice or fruit. If you grow or otherwise have access to the fruit it can be a lot less, and almost free in some cases

[@Jack-It-UP]

Great reporting, thanks

[@doityourselflivinggardenin7986]

Grapes begin to rot immediately after being picked. Shipped grapes will be inferior to grapes fresh picked. I'm sure you know that, but others might not. Furthermore, shipped juice sucks. It is oxidized before you even begin the fermentation. Seriously; just don't do it. I tried California juices before. What a waste of time and money. If I purchase juice now, I will drive to the winery and buy it the first day it is pressed. Don't even bother purchasing it two days after it is pressed; it will already be fermenting, even though they add sulfite. If you purchased crushed grapes, do not be the last one there for pickup. You will get mostly pulp. I buy returned Corona beer bottles at the discount beverage centers for the price of the return. Extremely cheap. Though, cleaning the yuk out of a Corona beer bottle (always has a moldy lime in it) is a bit of a chore. Bleach is your friend. But once it is cleaned, it literally lasts forever. I buy the Corona bottles because they are clear and I can see the color of my wines in the bottles. Sometimes I purchase cases of clear beer bottles at a glass factory on the way to visit my son. Wine bottled in beer bottles will literally last forever. I have some 30 year old mead in beer bottles. Every couple years I open one and it is still fantastic. I put the wine up to within 1/8 inch of the top so I don't get oxidation. My wife and I do not drink a lot at a time, so one beer bottle of wine is perfect to share and not have to worry about the rest spoiling. I've stopped giving away wine, so I don't care what the bottle looks like. Though, when my adult kids come to visit they all leave with four-packs. And yes, they are required to return clean bottles when they come again. Of everything to do with wine making, cleaning bottles is the most dreaded chore there is. We still hand destem only the best grapes from bunches from our own vines. Yeah, it sucks, but the wines are crazy good that way. If we have company to help, it is then fun. Wine is shared and everyone is happy. One added tool for making berry and fruit wines (and red wine on the skins)... a new spackling mixer tool to put on the end of a drill. This will churn up 4 gallons of fruit in seconds. I do not put fruit in bags. I ferment everything in the fermenter and then strain it off to a secondary before fermentation is done. Much fuller flavor this way. Some may call it heavier wine. I call it normal because I think store bought wines are thin. Every so often somebody will bring a wine to share if we invite them to dinner. I open up their wine and have them drink it so It doesn't collect dust on a shelf somewhere. These white and rose wines taste watered down to me, while the reds taste rancid. I will make a suggestion here for those who bring wines to a dinner invite, where the host is a winemaker... don't bring a bottle of wine unless it is home made. We do like to taste other winemakers wines, but cheap store bought wine just doesn't cut it. (Truth be told, we don't always like somebody else's wine as well, but it is fun to taste them. Sometimes we even learn something new.) I will also add that the size of the carboy will be relative to how much weight you can lift. I previously used 6.5 gallons, went to 6 gallons, then 5 gallons, and now I am at 4 gallons. I use 1 gallon jugs for overage when racking into aging carboys. If there is too much headspace in the gallon we will drink it early, before it oxidizes. You didn't mention clarifiers or filtering. I don't use them, but some people do not like unfiltered wine. I bulk age until the wine is clear, but with grape wines I often will get a fine dusting at the bottom of a bottle after 6 months to a year. We don't mind. It is better than an over-filtered wine that tastes thin. I always decant before serving anyways, so it is no big deal. I will later drink what is left at the bottom of a bottle. Sometimes it has an interesting flavor. Good video!

[@matthewgabbard6415]

When you said “maybe you’re in prison” I lost it haha

[@AM2PMReviews]

00:11 Straight to jail 😂

[@cet6202]

Pasteurization does not ferment. No sugar to ferment wine, please.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Pasteurization is simply the process of heating the juice to kill off microbes. It does not impact the sugars in the juice, and will ferment perfectly fine. You will just need to inoculate with yeast, as all of the wild yeast will have been killed off.

[@cet6202]

I don't recommend used material that you don;t know, who used it or what was in there.

[@amonducius]

Honestly for what you get, $3000 on a hobby is nothing. Ask anyone with a boat (b.o.a.t. = bust out another thousand).

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Haha, that is a good point. Winemaking really is a hobby that will pay for itself many times over if you stick with it long enough. But the startup costs can be a little scary for those stepping it up into larger batches of grapes.

[@chrissewell1608]

A Pound of Oak Cubes, cost $35.00!? WTF? Go buy a $5.00 bundle of Oak, firewood, at a convienence store! You'll get 15 -20 lbs. Of wood. Even if you wash or cut out the dirty parts, you'd save money!

[@ianferguson3998]

Dude equates moving out of a studio on par with prison... Damn

[@jessiesroka]

Is this pigeons420?

[@GEOPH2625]

Wine that tastes like juice sounds way better.

[@Pmz604]

a couple hundred dollars just to start... later you'll want more or nicer items

[@cet6202]

If you are really serious of making a great wine, listen only to the last part of the video. That is the only way to make real wine. nothing else. Sorry.

[@cet6202]

Wine from a supermarket juice...give me a break....I am a wine maker and that is not even true to reallity

[@GEOPH2625]

Lol maybe in prison. Nice