Time For Wining in The Pines !

[RednekF350]

Two items of note:

1. Boys and girls, it is once again that magical time of the year when it is time to make the wine.
For the past few years I have posted information about juice and grape dealers and equipment readily available in Hammonton at this time of year.

So far, I have hooked Turtle from this site and several friends of mine on winemaking and have steered them into the simple ways of making good tasting, grape flavored jet fuel.

Gino's in Hammonton sells everything you need to get started and beginning this week, the California grapes and pure juice is roilling in. I am going down Friday for mine.
It is beyond stupid easy to make good quality wine and I encourage all functional alchoholics like myself to give it a try.
Here is their site:

http://ginopinto.com/

Later in the fall, the New York juice comes into G.A. Restuccio in Hammonton and I do up some of his concord each year as well. I will post his info later in October.

2. For all of you festival goers, this Saturday and Sunday from noon till 5 is the Valenzano Wine Festival at their original facility on Indian Mills Road. It is very nice and the forecast looks good. We will be there on my motorcickle and a friend of mine has rented a tent that comes with a case of wine and other goodies. I may need a third wheel.

Enjoy.

Scott

 

[Teegate]

Wow! You are an alcaholics dream. They can't loose with your tips

I told Jessica she should give it a try. She likes the stuff but could never drink more than a glass a week or she couldn't function.

Guy

 

[piker56]

2. For all of you festival goers, this Saturday and Sunday from noon till 5 is the Valenzano Wine Festival at their original facility on Indian Mills Road. It is very nice and the forecast looks good. We will be there on my motorcickle and a friend of mine has rented a tent that comes with a case of wine and other goodies. I may need a third wheel.

Enjoy.

Scott

My friend from work went last year. He didn't need a third wheel, he needed a ride. He got hammered, and his wife had to drive home

 

[Gibby]

Alcoholics go to meetings and meetings are for quitters. We are drunks! The next best thing to homemade beer is homemade wine. Sipping whiskey can warm the gullet but can be rare. The wine festival sounds like a fun. I might have to head down to Hammonton see if they have any Riesling grapes.
I don't see them listed on Gino's website, so it might be early for them.

 

[turtle]

Yes! With Scott's support (1-800-350-WINO) I managed to harvest a lovely tub of "Back Porch Red". Actually, a Pinot Noir that turned out quite good. I am considering a dry white as well this fall....that's how easy it was to produce. I may visit Valenzano on Sunday. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[46er]

Our next door nighbor makes his own. They have a group of people that come over every year, do the squashing, fermenting and bottling in his garage and basement. God does that stuff stink, but he is nice and gives us a couple of bottles I expect to see Eliot Ness show up any day.

 

[Ben Ruset]

There is a vineyard in Kutztown, PA - Pinnacle Ridge - that makes a really good Concord wine. Nothing beats Scotts, but this comes very close.

I don't know if any places in NJ carry it - I have two bottles tucked away from when I drove through on my way back from Centralia. I'm saving them for a rainy day.

 

[RednekF350]

Thanks for the kind words Ben.
Yesterday I got my California rolling. NY Concord to follow in October.

 

[Ben Ruset]

How's the wine coming along?

 

[RednekF350]

The garage smells like grape heaven. Demijons are still rolling steady = high alchohol content ! Yaay !
I am going to check with the NY juice guy this weekend.
Updates to follow.

 

[Ben Ruset]

We should have a fall gathering somewhere for a wine tasting.

 

[PINEY MIKE]

There is a vineyard in Kutztown, PA - Pinnacle Ridge - that makes a really good Concord wine. Nothing beats Scotts, but this comes very close.

I don't know if any places in NJ carry it - I have two bottles tucked away from when I drove through on my way back from Centralia. I'm saving them for a rainy day.

I went to school in Kutztown and loved the wineries in the area. Pinnacle used to carry a sweet Niagra too.. that along w the Concord would do me in on a Fri or Sat night. Both are sweet and strong.

 

[PINEY MIKE]

Thanks for the kind words Ben.
Yesterday I got my California rolling. NY Concord to follow in October.

Think I'll hit Gino's up this year. Our crew never got around to making wine again this year.. first time in years no one showed an interest. I still have about 100 bottles to bottle tho.

 

[RednekF350]

The NY grape and juice varieties are now available at Restuccio's in Hammonton. I got my concord yesterday !
The owner is typically only around on weekends and it is a good idea to order what you want. He will be bringing down more next weekend. He is BYOB, as in bring your own buckets.
The business phone is no longer in service but I have his cell.
PM me if any one would like his number.

 

[RednekF350]

Well boys and girls, it is once again that magical time of year when you can take simple, pure unpasteurized grape juice and turn it into a mind altering liquid that will cause surprise pregnancies and automobile accidents.


The juice is in at Gino's in Hammonton and the Valenzano Wine Festival is in Indian Mills is this weekend.

Details of my garage style winemaking can be found above.
Rather than start a whole new thread, I tacked this onto my post from 2011.

Enjoy and name your surprise kid Scott or Crash in my honor !

Scott

 

[Ben Ruset]

Enjoy and name your surprise kid Scott or Crash in my honor !

Done, and done!

 

[RednekF350]

I am truly honored Ben.
On my way to Gino's in an hour. All my favorite flavors are in !

 

[Ben Ruset]

I really ought to try making some this year.

 

[RednekF350]

I really ought to try making some this year.

No excuses son. I will try to find you a local distributor for the juice. It would take you longer to do the round trip to Hammonton than it will to make the wine.

I just did 36 gallons of reds. Start to finish, with beers in between, it took me one hour and 15 minutes.

Here are the four moronically simple steps.


1. Open a beer and measure out two lbs. of sugar. Use an old rusty scale that you can find at most yard sales. Set the tare for the weight of your bowl first.

2. Open the bucket and pour about half of the juice into a clean bucket and pour your sugar into the original bucket and stir like a mad man for 5 minutes.
Open another beer.
In the bottom of the bucket you will see sludge. Sludge is good and must be scraped up as you stir your sugar. The sludge contains the natural yeast from the grapes.
Here am the sludge.

3. Pour the juice into the demijon using a very a large funnel available at Gino's.

4. Open a beer, insert the $1.49 airlock into your demijon, step back, offer a salute and admire your handiwork.

Fin.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I think there's supposed to be a place on Rt 37 in Toms River.