I started 5 years ago with a single gallon of grape wine and have evolved into making 12 different kinds of fruit wine both semi sweet and sweet plus a after dinner wine. I do not drink i make it to give to my friends and at a wine tasting party we have each year it is the finest hobby i enjoy the most. ps im 73 years old
Name: Rex Houseman
State: MI

I made 14 gallons of cider wine which I gave out as Christmas gifts to many people.
Sometimes I add a bit of mint spirits to make a Cider wine with a hint of mint, which turns out to be quite good.
Name: Steve Armenta
State: New Mexico

My father started making wine back in the 1960’s. He had a very basic set up – I remember a dozen or more gallon jugs each with it’s own air lock – a Styrofoam cup taped to the side of each jug with a tube coming out the top of each jug. Some of his wines weren’t so great but some were very good. I helped him from time to time but mostly it was just him, however I always helped drink the wines!
He passed away in 1979 and his equipment and wines were passed on to me. For a number of years all I did was take a bottle of wine here and there – until I ended up taking his very last bottle of wild grape wine. Then there was no more…
That was when I decided to carry on the tradition. After reading a couple of the books he had used I decided to make a batch of wine myself. One of his basic philosophies was “use whatever fruit is available” and that first batch of wine I made was apple wine. It turned out great – and I was hooked.
I still subscribe to his philosophy – “use what ever is available” but I have graduated to using carboys and making larger batches. Over the years I have made: Apple, Blackberry, Blueberry, Elderberry, Elderberry Blossom, Grape (Concord), Nectarine, Orange, Red Raspberry, Strawberry, and Wild Grape. There might be a couple others I’ve forgotten along with one I am still trying to forget!
I don’t have any special equipment and as a result I don’t have any pictures. I just use very basic equipment – plastic 5 gallon pails, a small wine press, and several carboys. But I have found that it is possible to make a good wine with those simple components. Of course “good” is up to the person holding the glass, I like most of the wines I make and that is all that is important to me.
The only thing I feel sorry about is not being able to sit back with my Dad and compare wines and enjoy…
Name: Robert Johnson
State: PA

Well, We have 5 Vines, 2 Muscadine and 3 Scuppernong, 5 Pear Trees. This was my first year of wine making. Check out my page on Facebook … It keeps Family and Friends up to date on my wine making.
What makes you/your setup unique?
When my Son Joined the USMC, I turned his Bedroom into the Wine making room. When he comes home, he wants to sleep in there so he can smell the wine… I make him sleep in the guest room.
We have built our own Press, wine room and bottling area. We just finish building a 180 bottle wine rack.
I make wine from both Fresh/ Frozen fruit (Muscadine and Scuppernong) mainly. Also make Box Kit wine … Strawberry White Zinfandel and Peach Chardonnay, are the top two we do… I pick it, crush it, and press my own fruit… we try to keep at least 10 Gals going at a minimum (primary) 10 -15 Racked and/or Aging. I freeze my grapes if it looks like they will go to waste, then I start wine in the middle of the winter so I can have a batch ready mid-summer for bottling…
Thanks to all the winemaking Blog sites I have learned I will let my wine age longer from now on.
I won the 2011 FALL OFF THE PORCH award.. Well my wife gave it to me…
Family and friends Love to have a glass when they stop by…
Name: David Raleigh
State: Alabama

This is my first attempt in wine making. As you can see there is nothing elaborate about how I have my wine process set up. But you know I found out a long time ago fancy doesn’t always mean the best. Proud, yes I am proud to say for a 61 year old man I have finally got around to trying this something I have wanted to do for years. So this is my story just wanted to share it with you.
Name: Paul Barber
State: Tennessee

Make rose petal, honey suckle wine, persimmon wine. Everyone loves my fuel. Enjoy the fermentation process. During last storm all the wine started really poppn, fizzn. The barometric pressure
Name: Robert Raab
State: Illinois

I do not have pictures of my wine. It is nothing but simple gallon jugs with air locks. What is unique is that I am a 79 year old lady growing my own muscadines on 1 acre. I have grown them from seeds and propagated with limbs in a flower pot. I have also been using my land to grow blue berries, black berries, pears and everything edible including asparagus. I built a solar bath house, a solar greenhouse and want to be self sufficient and healthy. I drink 1/2 glass of wine per day for health. If my wine is a little harsh, I mix some juice with it.
Name: Georgia Muller
State: N.C.

In 2010 I bought 5 gallons of chardonnay juice. After the primary fermentation I racked it into a carboy and waited for it to clear. After 3 months and two racks the wine still was not clearing. So I then added some quick clear and it did help but it was still foggy. I was getting a little woried so I ran it through a filter. I called a friend of mine who owns a winery an he told me too just wait. After 5 months I filtered and bottled it and won a gold medal at the Ky St fair.
Name: Art Willman
State: ILLINOIS

I started 16 years ago with 1 fermenter in a bathtub, making a couple batches of beer a year. In 2009, our family went to Austria, to meet my cousins for the first time, who own a commercial winery there. Once meeting them, they convinced me to carry on the family business here in the states, so I got serious about my habit, and it became more of an obsession. I have since turned my closet into a temperature-controlled fermenting space, and have maxed out my fermenting capacity & always have multiple kits in the waiting (at least until I take over a larger part of the house). My first wine in 2009 was a mead, & in the 2010 Indy International it won a trophy for Honey Blend of the Year, I then moved onto kit wines, & fresh grape wines, & in the 2011 Indy International, I won 5 silver medals, 1 gold medal, 1 Double Gold medal, and a trophy for Indiana Ameteur Winemaker Of The Year for my Chambourcin from fresh grapes! I guess it’s in my blood!
Name: Allen Brown
State: Indiana

I live near a discount grocery store. Not long ago they got in more strawberries than they could sell. I was offered a few flats at a discounted price. After discarding the bad ones, I made my first STRAWBERRY wine. I know the wine maker in a winery, so when I made the wine and bottled it, I carred him a bottle to critique for me. He said it was of top class in taste and quality. I lucked out with throwaway fruit. D.C.
Name: F.D.C.
State: Georgia