I have a very intimate relationship with wine making. Its passionate, all consuming, intense, and satisfying. It’s almost better than sex. Alright, lets face it- with the way my love life has been going, I’m going to have to opt in favor of the wine making. You can still get messy and sticky and work up a sweat but most of the time it tastes better. You don’t have to care what the wine thinks about you after you’ve gotten what you want out of it. You also don’t have to reassure the wine that “yes, it really was that good”.
Ok, ok, all jokes and completely inappropriate asides aside, I have to tell you I have a serious passion for the art of wine making. I wish I had more room in my house for this hobby. The spare bedroom in my house isn’t really a spare bedroom anymore. It’s a wine room. Carboys are placed on the twin bed, buckets of supplies are stacked beside the carboys, and empty bottles crying out to be filled line the shelves against one wall.
There is something weirdly satisfying in creating your own wine. (only if you really like wine…..like I do.) Yes, it can be a lot of work. And yes, it can be really messy. I spent quite a bit of time wiping up spilled wine(no one can prove I was cleaning it up on my hands and knees with a straw in my mouth) with the first batch I tried to make. It’s a bit picky….enough water, not enough water, did I mix that right, why isn’t this thing fermenting yet(I’d actually get up in the middle of the night to check on my wine)Why does my wine smell funny? Is that SUPPOSED to be floating in there??? Why does my primary look like it’s about to blow up?
But its fun. And its dirt cheap-at least once you get all your gear. You don’t even have to spend a ton of cash to get started. I was gifted a fair amount of what I own today, or I found it on Kijiji. Free. I also got a great floor corker for less than five bucks at Goodwill. The floor corkers will typically run about $80.00 retail-and mine was in mint condition. My point is, if you’re willing to invest a bit of time and effort in getting set up, there are some spectacular deals to be had.
Did you know that once you get going with wine making, you get around thirty to thirty-five bottles of wine for around a buck a bottle, and sometimes for less than that. Because I’m basically cheap (poverty-stricken) I tend to watch for sales on wine kits too. Save On Foods, of all places, has good prices on their wine kits as it is, but twice a year they mark those down. No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the kits. I’ve made several batches out of the kits bought at Save On, and the wine is fantastic. There are several other places you can find wine kits and wine making supplies in Edmonton. My personal favorite is Brew for Less (the service, atmosphere, selection and staff are amazing), but I’ve visited a few of the more popular ones.
- Brew for Less 10774 95 Street Edmonton, AB (780)422-0425
- Wine Kitz 140-15 Perron Street St.Albert, AB (780) 460-4999
- Winning Wines Plus 5718 – 111 Street Edmonton, AB Phone: 780-431-1944
I’ve also recently discovered that you can even get wine kits on Amazon. They’ll run you around the $55.00 mark, which is pretty good. Costco sells wine kits(online only as far as I know) and you can also get wine making items from the Italian Centre Shop. There are several other wine stores in Edmonton and the surrounding areas. I’ve just listed the ones I’ve been to.
Wine kits are great. All the heavy lifting is done for you. There is no squeezing, juicing, straining, mashing, or cooking. You get a bag of juice, assorted additives, yeast, and sometimes sweetener or conditioner. Most kits also toss in labels for your bottles, and a very good instruction booklet to walk you through every single step. They are pretty much foolproof. But sometimes, you might want to stroll off the beaten path and get creative, imaginative, and inventive. You’d be amazed at what you can produce a pretty satisfying batch of wine out of.
- carrots
- potatoes
- coffee
- tea
- roses
- dandelions
- turnips
- bananas
That list is accurate-and very small. What you make wine out of is limited only by the imagination. I’ve made a batch of wine out of sour cherries, water, yeast, and sugar. Not only was it a terrific little wine, there was nothing like it sold in liquor stores anywhere. It was 100 percent unique, not to mention organic. I even let it clear on its own, so there were no additives. Having said that, I also made a batch out of fresh apples that first turned to sparkling apple wine( and blew most of the corks out of the bottles) and then to vinegar. It’s a learning curve.
It’s a dangerous hobby though. I’ve had batches of wine that I’ve made that don’t even make it to the bottling stage, and it’s not because there is anything wrong with them. I’d come home from work on what may have been a really shitty day and use my super cool wine extractor to run out a bottle at a time. Oh, alright fine…. so sometimes it may have been one bottle after the other. Don’t judge me. I was heartbroken when I wanted some wine not too long ago and my super cool wine extractor was broken. Kaput. Unusable. I remember contemplating how difficult it would be to have The Boy help me tip the carboy to get some wine out. Or maybe I could just hover over top of the carboy with a straw. Then I discovered I had a pretty good length of vinyl tubing that I’d inherited from my Uncle Merv when he gifted me with his wine making supplies he no longer used. Its not a pretty picture, but nothing keeps me from my wine.
Winetemplations 
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