847 replies to this topic

[Joel]

I wanted to make this even more of a family type of forum, and would like to learn a bit more about the great members we have here. This forum holds members from all extremes of wine making and grape growing. From the chemist, head vintner, supplier, vineyard owner, winery owner, to the guys like my self with some wine going in the basement and a few vines in the ground.

Welcome to all the new members, and thank you to all the people who have registerred and participate in the forum, making it what it is today.

My hat is off to each of you, and my wine glass raised,

Cheers and welcome to WinePress.US

Joel

Oh, by the way, I work in St. Louis for an ISP selling high speed Internet corporate access nationwide. I sell T1, DS3, OCx, server colocation, firewall, network security services, etc. I hunt (not too good at it), fish, camp, boat, snowmobile, play guitar, play softball, help dad farm (his hobby), and am a volunteer firefighter in my home town. Oh yeah, wine making, web site making, and running this forum.

[MedPretzel]

I'm a new member as of this week, and already I have found that I have profited from this forum.

I am Martina, 32, from Ohio. I was born and raised here, went to college in beautiful Fredericksburg, Virginia, and to medical school in Halle (Saale), Germany. (Lots of great wine in the Saale region!)

My hobbies include (of course) winemaking, which I started about August of last year, Genealogy, Dancing, computer programming, and well.... Med School didn't let me do too much else, so I'm starting some things that have been missing for the last few years.

I moved back to the United States from Germany about 6 months ago, and am preparing for the Boards. A very boring existance right now, but the wine helps.

Cheers to you all!

Martina

[Enchanted Hills Vineyard]

My name is Marc and I live in N.E. Missouri. I play bass guitar (but not very well), make wine, build web sites, get drunk, party, drive a 4X4 with 35" tires and I am currently working on planting phase 1 of my vineyard. I am currently inbetween jobs while working on the vineyard but I used to drive a truck. Driving a truck was hard on my body so I don't think I can handle too many more years of it so I got out while the gettin was good. Along side the vineyard I am also starting a nursery. The combo of the two will make it where I don't have to work for anyone else. I have tried several different businesses but I am doing a lot more research on the vineyard than I did on the previous businesses. My last 2 were reptile breeding (Southern Style Reptiles) and an internet gift shop named J. Imports. I have lived in Long Beach , Ca. Atlanta, Ga. and N.E. Missouri..

Thats about it....
Marc

[tazzidevil]

I am Cat ( Kato, Katalin, Ecaterina, Caterina, Cath, Kate etc....depending on who finds what easier to pronounce ) I live in Dover,Tasmania, a beautiful corner of the world, nearly the end of the road in Australia, on the bank of Esperance Bay. Was born in Transylvania, Romania - yes, there is a real Dracula counrty - to Hungarian parents. We have decided that inough is inough...moved to Au.
I like to read, write, fish, camp, cook,travel, knit and look after my grapes. I like many other things... if I would just get a shot at another or two more lifetimes...
Just started school again with an intro to Tech College. From July I'll do a tourism course and next year I'll try again for the university. As much as like knitting I can't imagine myself sitting in front of the tv or herding the future grandkids... I'de like to be neck deep into the "very boring existence" Martina is doing now!

[JDM]

most of you know me by now but for those of you that are new...

i am new to the winemaking addiction and while i have several hundred posts joel was kind enough to keep me as a newbie at my request...most of you probably threw more bad batches away than i had made good ones...

my wife maggie and a couple employees run our business known as orchard valley supply...we sell everything between the vine and the finished wine including kits thanks to joel pushing me to do so...

i work full time running a gaming operation and in my free time (yeah right) my wife and i ride our motrocycles and play with our cat...

i was born and raised on a farm and lived or visited many places from the virgin islands, to oregon to vegas to florida to australia and back...started in pa and now i am back living in pa....

had a heart attack three years ago and i still refuse to slow down....life is too short to live scared (it is like playing cards...don't play with scared money)

i am truly LIVING A DREAM in that everyday above ground is a great day!

joe

[Phyllis]

Well, hello all! I'm sitting here enjoying a glass of Australian Syrah (Shiraz?) from April of 2003 which around here is considered aged,
reading posts thinking it's time I introduced myself.
Almost 20 years have gone by since I made our first batch of wine. It was from pesticide free Ontario Concord grapes. 50 or so litres. Quite a lot of not very good wine. But it was a start. Since then I've tried numerous kits. I've come to appreciate the quality of the former Brew King, now known as Winexpert. I personally thought they were the best but with the multitude of ads in my first Winemaker magazine I received I started to get a little confused. I wrote into the magazine asking their opinion on what they felt was the best and they told me to go by the competion results that I see have already been commented on. My letter was printed in the January 2004 issue. Their main point was to see who came out the best and after my own calculations I saw that Brew King came out with more awards than all the other kit companies put together.
Well after all this time has gone by I'm actually going to try some more Ontario grapes. It's from a friend of ours who combines 3 different juices and the price is quite good so I'm looking forward to the fall when I get 5 gallons of her juice.
Also, bought a used cooler from a store and going to try the Kamil pure European juice which has to be kept at about 40 degrees for 3 weeks.
So, enough rambling.
Bye!!

[stevec]

Welcome Phyllis!!

Glad to have another point of view and additional experience here!

(Reading and enjoying a Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull Zin.)


What part of the country are you from? (Or what country?)

sc

[Phyllis]

Good morning,
Enjoying a nice cup of coffe, freshly ground Arabic beans. I wonder if there's a connection between enjoying good wine and good coffee. For me there definitely is. I just remembered an article I read from Natalie Maclean who is one of the best wine reviewers and writers. She did a great side article on coffe which she won an award for.Here it is if anyone would like to see it, it's kinda long though, but good.

http://www.nataliema...les/coffee.html

We (me,my husband and 17 yr old daughter, the last of our 5 children) live in Ontario, in a small town called Stayner which is north of Toronto about an hours drive. Stayner's population is 3200 but it's on the highway 15 minutes to Collingwood which is Intrawest's latest development and investment community so things have gotten a lot busier here as well. It is a nice part of Ontario with Wasaga Beach nearby (the world's largest fresh water beach) and Blue Mountain in Collingwood for a bit of skiing. And if you want to do some serious shopping you're not that far from Toronto.

[Canada Goose]

Just found your site by accident the other day and thjis is the first time I have had a chance to browse.I am an amateur wine maker living in southern Alberta. I make about 25 kits a year and maybe 50 dozen beer for the summer. I have lots of friends to share with. I am retired and also enjoy fishoing,hiunting,golfing and any outdoor activity. This site is very interesting. I am looking forward to seeing the live cam it should be very interesting. tks. Dave

[falcours]

Hello Everyone,
My name is Ed. I am new at wine making but it has become a passion. I grew up in the mid west and went to Miami University in Oxford Ohio. Lived in Seattle for 10 years and then in San Fran for 10 more next to the Wente Vineyard. Both places are were I became interested in wine. Spent many hours tasting and learning to appreciate all types and for the past year I have been studing all I can get my hands on. My grandfather was from Italy, around Rome and he made his own wine. Unfortunatly he passed before I could learn from him but would like to learn and pass on the tradition to my children. I don't want to grew my own grapes but do want to learn how to make great wine. Will take any suggestions and any help. I have only done kits so far. My next step is to learn how to blend different grapes. My wife and I just spent 2 weeks in Italy- and my ulitmate goal is to open an Enoteca here in the United States. I would love to give people a chance to taste different wines and promote local wineries. Any ideas on how to do this would be appreciated. I belong to the MSN wine chat and the Yahoo chat for home winemakers. That is how I found this site.... I travel extensively, play golf (another passion) did ski-but no more developed a tumor that was removed last year in my left leg. Love and study history. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

[wick6]

hi everyone. just joined this forum. been making wine only about 2 years now. currently fermenting my 11th batch. i live in northern illinois(go bears, white sox), attended school at southern illinois univ.(go salukis), and then wyoming technical institute for auto body collision repair, which is what i currently do for a living. my loves are backpacking,hunting, fishing, golf, fabricating metal(cars, motorcycles), winemaking and, well, i guess my girlfriend(lol). i have already learned from many of you and am sure to learn much more. thanks for this site and if i can help anyone at all, i will do my best.

[Hippie]

Ok, it's about time for my turn. My name is Glenvall. Pronounce it how you like. My German mother made it up. I am 41.5 years of age and just found out I have a Grandson. I have been making wine for around 5 years. I like to experiment with fruit, but I also like to make kits. I have 5 children, 4 girls and one boy, ages 21, 18, 16, 14, and 4. I have served in the USAF for a few years when I was much younger, have been a Sheriff's Deputy for a few years, and now have been the Security Officer at a local hospital for a few years. I grew up in the timber, logging, and sawmill business. I live in northcentral Arkansas and I am a hick. If you heard me talk, you would agree! The yankee gals love it. This is my favorite forum for my favorite hobby and obsession. I believe a glass of wine a day will at least help keep the doctor away. I also enjoy camping, hiking, NASCAR, fishing, traveling, gardening, spending time with my family, riding my Seadoo, chasing my wife 'round the house, and a whole lot of other activities, and not necessarily in that order. I usually have questions of my own here and I like to try and answer questions from others. I believe this forum is alot like a big family and I think I would enjoy most of your company if met face to face. Thanks to Joel for a wonderful forum! Glenvall Lee Harris

[cathy]

Hi All!! I just found this site. I've been researching home winemaking on the internet for weeks. I think the Jack Keller site is where I learned of this site...been doing so much surfing around the net lately I'm not positive. This is a great site and a great forum. I learn so much from you all. I'm a still -wet -behind- the- ears newbie. I have about 7gallons of wine in progress right now and this is my first go, so we'll see. Current wines going are: blackberry, huckleberry, (both from fruit I picked last summer and froze) and a Welch's Grape Juice wine that I'm trying just for kicks. I'm going to buy a kit wine next so I can have some (hopefully) quality wine and sooner than the fruit wines. My name is Cathy. I'm 50, a retired 6th grade teacher, live in a very rural part of Oregon-NE corner. 2 children - 26 & 23. I live on a hobby farm of 15 acres with my husband who is also a retired teacher (high school-social sciences). Hobbies are raising free range chickens, gardening, 4-wheeling, camping, fishing, soap-making, and now winemaking. I hope to learn lots from you all, but I don't know enough to help others......yet! I'll visit often and read lots. Thanks for this great site.
Cathy from Oregon

[WineDoc]

Well, this is my second post and I'm glad for the site because I think it's good to have access to such experienced winemakers. It is also good to see the questions of newbies as well. I have not yet made my first batch of wine. I am one who likes to thoroughly research something first. I have about four acres in Pennsylvania and am getting ready to plant 60 vines this month. These should be ready to produce for me in three to four years. In the mean time I will learn the art of winemaking as that seems to be a big part of it. It seems to be as much an art as a science. I work in the health field and this will be my hobby. As an Italian, I love good food and good red wine. Well thanks for making me feel welcome and maybe one day I'll be one of those wine experts!

[J-wolf]

Well
Laura (my beautifu bride) and I are from southern Ontario, Toronto area ("Teronna", for all the westerners in Lotus land)l and we moved down to the New York Finger Lakes area (poor us) in June 2000. We both work for Cornell University at the Vet school. I am extremely new to winemaking. We love backpacking and camping, and cooking. We finally received our "green cards" and can take our lives off hold and start to look for a home to buy.
jeff
i am gonna try to attach an image of Laura and myself at our humble wedding reception..ok it was a kegger with vet people, OHHH! we had a blast!!!
Its not working I nwill try tomorrow or something
jeff
04/05/2004- Joel I love this edit feature.
Gonna try the picture posting again...