Introduce Yourselves here

[lockwood1956]

Elderflower champagne is wonderful stuff, but there is some very dodgy methodology being expounded by so called experts.

ALWAYS use champagne bottles, Hugh Fearnely whatsit doesn't know what he is talking about! using normal wine or beer bottles creates glass hand grenades (one kids one not )

Welcome to our little home, there are lots of friendly and helpful peeps aboard here

regards
Bob

[Rosewine Lover]

Just started back wine making in last 6 weeks, made a youngs 6 bottle rose, Solomon Grundy 7 day 30 bottle kit.......sol one was /is gorgeous.
Just started off a 7 DAY chardonnay kit, so this time next week i'll have @ 28 bottles of that!!
Have given out some bottles and feedback really good. Youngs rose is stronger........I've also got some supermarket juice going too.
1 Gallon WOW
1 gallon WOW with strawberries
1 Gal rose
1 Gal wine number 1

Really enjoying it .......can't believe what decent wine i'm making for the cost too.

[lockwood1956]

welcome, welcome, welcome



enjoy

regards

bob

[jackjosh]

First glass of wine No1

This is my first glass of my first batch, so easy but taste's great sat in my garden.

[lockwood1956]

Nice!

[jackjosh]

The wife loves it, so a happy household.

[tapan]

A new -- old "newbie"

I confess that i actually don't feel that i shall have a great input here. i havebeen making my own wines for some 30 years and my approach has varied enormously dependant on time available, work loads, financial disasters and galloping years passing at an ever increasing rate.

I have been an avid wine imbiber for the majority of my adult life and these days I drink wine (limited by my medical condition) almost exclusively.
Somy wine makeing history very briefly.

i dabbled very briefly in about 1970 but got involved with running my own Somerst Inn which absorbed me utterly for 5 very hard ( an successful) years --- but resulted in the break up of my marriage.

I disappeared of to the Sultanate of Oman for over 10 years and although it wasn't ( and isn't) a dry state, i experiemente withvarious home brews of my own. the big probelm out there was that even in my air conditoned home ( which felt dry and cool -- the ambient temperature - was in the atrea of 80/90 F in the hot season.

I remember one evening being startled awake by the sound of my exploding "champagne" bottles letting off a barrage of explodong corks!

I certainly made mead out there since i cuold collect my own honey directly from my garden where the wild bees made a sort of "discus" shaped comb in th eopen air around branches of my trees in my garden -- but i had flowers there vitually all year round ( watered with k's of litres of water almost daily.

It wasn't until about 1989 on my return to Uk that I stasrted making wine in ernest

I remember buy a "Boots" wine kit -- a can of "grape juice (?) which i found to be eceedingly awful -- no that's not trie -- it was drinkable -- just!

I remeber buying a small paperback book, I still have it -- and many of its recipes make very successful wines ( given thaone needs to excercise that prime requisite in winemake -- Patience!

The little book is called "The Complete Book of Home Winemaking" by H E Bravery published by "Pan" it is now in loose pages but, tempered by my long experience i still use some of the recipes -- duly amended by long years of knowing what i am doing.

I had a period of about 5 years in the early to mid 90's when I was recovering from major surgery and i actually converted one of my bedrooms into a "winery" and I was at that stage making exclusively "country" style wines and I learned a lot and made lots of mistakes but I did learn that very special talent in winemaking (I mentioned it earlier) Patience

To jusmp forward to the last few year I still make my favourites -- like my fortified elderberry occasionally ( I have a 2004 vintage sitting in its glass 24 litre glass carboy still maturing gently0 i shall probably make some this year if the crop is good.
But I confwss that as the year gallop by I have increasinlgly made wines from the "Selection" kits -- especially their Limited editon ones.

It is one of the really major improvement in wine make that I have experienced in the lat 20 years. The quality of the wine kits ( at a coust these days) is absolutely excellent -- although i still make marginal adjustments to the fermenting process which I have found to be effective. it is all based on long experience and I would be pushed to verbalise my reasons for those adjustments. years pass all to quickly these days and I have just entered my 75th year!

So that enough for now. I will post occassionally especially since I ihave a very large crop of Gooseberries this year which are ripening beautifully. It must be over 9 years since I made a sparkling wine ( strawberry) and I might be just tempted to try it again this year. I celebrated my birthday ( as i have done over the last 10 years) in my tent ( In germany this year) during my 1000 mile cycle camping tour. -- I am a bit of a cycling nutcase!

nuff said.

I will keep am eye on things in here. I found you in one of my random seaches today. I shall be interested to see what it is like in here!


Apologies for typos! and non sequitors!

[Bassman]

Welcome tapan, I joined not so long ago myself, it seems a great forum, with lots of knowledge.

Lawrence

[robwrx]

What a fascinating story. With that sort of experience I'm sure you have a lot to contribute to this forum, welcome

Rob

[Rich]

Welcome Tapan, a fascinating intro, nice to have you here.

[lockwood1956]

Tapan,

your years of experience will, surely enlighten us all

welcome aboard

regards
Bob

[waggoner]

Welcome Tapan.

I just took up cycling myself,,just been out tonight and done 36 miles, complete with a bottle of wine in a panier. Stopped at a friends house at the end and shared a glass with them,,,a good end to a good ride!!

Have fun..

[goldseal]

That's a heck of an intro, Tapan . Welcome aboard.

[jay]

new again

hi im not a newbi but havent made any wine for allmoast 2 years as i moved house and have been busey doing the house up .
but now the wife is happy with the house for now i started again
so far in the last month i have brewed 7gallons of wine no1 (got to get your stocks up ) 1 gallon of beaverdale chardonnay rerady to bottle very soon 1 gallon of solomon grundys apricot which i have just botteled to day 1 gallon of delicate home wine Burgundaise rich red from the hop shop and allso doing 1 gallon of tined fruiet cocktail win.
i want to get some more on the go over the weekend but not sure wat yet any recomendations are welcom kit or easy fruit or juice at the mo.

[mrmojorisin]

hi jay,

i can highly recommend wine number 2, mine finished last week and its a very quaffable rose, perfect summer drinking