Where to buy wine grapes ?

[johnywalker87]

Hi,
I'm interested in making my own wine from scratch at home, but don't like the idea of buying juice concentrate . I prefer to make it from scratch.
Do you know a place in Vancouver Island where I can buy wine grapes, just few pounds because most of ads I have found are for wholesalers ( they sell something like 10 tonnes of grapes). The table grapes in grocery stores aren't good for making wine

 

[alcxd]

Do you know any Italian people
Years ago I got a bunch of them from an Italian I worked with
A group of them ordered a sh... Load every year so my little bit didn't mater
Or u could check out vineyards or locals with grape vines
My in laws had a very nice grape vine that made nice wine
Good luck

 

[vancity_cowboy]

try saanich sommelliers

and good luck - some of the best wine i've ever tasted was made by me... and some of the worst wine i've ever tasted was made by me as well. the trouble is, when it's the worst wine, you've got somewhere between 30 bottles of it to as much as 300 bottles of it!! :fear:

with luck, by using the sommelliers club resources, you can avoid the worst scenario

btw, wine grapes are usually only available during the august to october period as the different varieties ripen

http://www.saanichsommeliers.ca/general-interest/grape-crush-fall-2015/

 

[Ribbed]

Go to Real Canadian Superstore in late August and they will bring you an order of wine grapes from California.

 

[johnywalker87]

btw, wine grapes are usually only available during the august to october period as the different varieties ripen

Is it OK to buy it in August and keep it few months in freezer if you want to make your wine in winter ?

 

[PierreCoeur]

Only if you are looking to make Ice Wine

 

[badbadboy]

Is it OK to buy it in August and keep it few months in freezer if you want to make your wine in winter ?

You would be wasting your $. You might as well buy concentrate.

Typically grapes in late August are bursting with juice so it's important to get them sorted and crushed quickly. The heat will create sugars which will effect the alcohol level not in a good way. You want the alcohol levels to grow naturally within the brew.

There is an Italian style called Amarone Costasera that dries the grapes for three weeks prior to the crush.

 

[johnywalker87]

You would be wasting your $. You might as well buy concentrate.

Typically grapes in late August are bursting with juice so it's important to get them sorted and crushed quickly. The heat will create sugars which will effect the alcohol level not in a good way. You want the alcohol levels to grow naturally within the brew.
.

Still better than from concentrate , concentrate isn't as natural as fresh grapes

 

[badbadboy]

Still better than from concentrate , concentrate isn't as natural as fresh grapes

Have you considered how large a freezer you would require to hold enough grapes to make a batch of wine of thirty 750 ml bottles?

Sure natural grapes are numero uno vs concentrate but let's be practical here about the size of freezer. Then you would have to lay the grapes out to thaw and so forth. ie lots of available sq footage inside your home.

There's a group of four Italian families that have been wine making in my neighbourhood for two generations. They get their grapes from Oregon and it arrives on a flat deck truck. I can't imagine one quarter of those grapes being stored in a freezer unless it was industrial size.

 

[tadolder]

You won't find wine grapes this time of year. Typically they are available August to end of September, any left over grapes are crushed and sold as juice for the rest of the year. Spagnols on Anacis Island is good for juice anytime. There are lots of pop up places for the grapes when they are in season. Bosa used to sell them, not sure they do anymore. I used to make two 40 gallon barrels every year, then grappa from the mash after it was pressed. Lots of work but so much fun.

 

[mcdude]

Bosa Grape. You can get frozen pails of grapes from Brehm, which sources grapes from some of the best vineyards around. They are pre-crushed if you want red, so all you'll need a press for after. Sold in 5 gallon pails.

 

[johnywalker87]

Bosa Grape. You can get frozen pails of grapes from Brehm, which sources grapes from some of the best vineyards around. They are pre-crushed if you want red, so all you'll need a press for after. Sold in 5 gallon pails.

Do they have a store here in Victoria ?

 

[vancity_cowboy]

i think spagnols is gone now? correct me if i'm wrong. i used to buy from spagnols all the time - fantastic grapes!

although you wouldn't think so when the wind was blowing the wrong direction... :faint:

and no, no store in victoria

 

[sevenofnine]

Like he said do you know or have any Italian friends.

Growing up in an Italian neighborhood in Calgary, every year the Italians imported there own grapes.

Failing that, do you know any local small family orientated family store. They most likely have a lot of imported Italian goods like cheese or olive oil and vinegar and once a year get a shipment of grapes.

Go there and make nice,
Some friends of mine used to do what you propose, once upon a time, they got there stuff like I said from a small family store.

 

[johnywalker87]

t)

btw, wine grapes are usually only available during the august to october period as the different varieties ripen

I'm assuming they ripen at this time of the year down in southern Hemisphere, is there a way to get wine grapes from Chile ?

 

[sdw]

I'm assuming they ripen at this time of the year down in southern Hemisphere, is there a way to get wine grapes from Chile ?

You might try http://www.portofinowines.com/ I know that they bring Chilean grapes into Toronto, don't know if they ship to BC. They may know if someone does ship to BC.

 

[vancity_cowboy]

it was a real race to get the truckloads of ripe grapes from the u.s. vinyards to vancouver without them starting to ferment - reefer trucks all the way

i assume the chilean grapes mentioned above would be flown in - at considerable cost - why the big rush to do it now?

 

[summerbreeze]

if there is moisture like it rained the day they were loaded means mold forms in transit and you can't use them

 

[sdw]

it was a real race to get the truckloads of ripe grapes from the u.s. vinyards to vancouver without them starting to ferment - reefer trucks all the way

i assume the chilean grapes mentioned above would be flown in - at considerable cost - why the big rush to do it now?

I know that he doesn't want to use juice, but juice is a better bet considering that they most likely have to go to Toronto and then across Canada to Victoria. The likelihood of usable grapes at the end of all that is close to nil. I don't think you would get decent wine from grapes that had been flown any where. Effect of changes in air pressure. It's hard enough to make wine that isn't plonk, without practically ensuring that it will be plonk.

 

[johnywalker87]

I know that he doesn't want to use juice, but juice is a better bet considering that they most likely have to go to Toronto and then across Canada to Victoria. The likelihood of usable grapes at the end of all that is close to nil. I don't think you would get decent wine from grapes that had been flown any where. Effect of changes in air pressure. It's hard enough to make wine that isn't plonk, without practically ensuring that it will be plonk.

so how come you can find chilean table grapes in grocery stores here in Victoria at this time of the year ?