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Cheap Wine for the Cruiser

14K views 46 replies 23 participants last post by  Valiente 
#1 ·
Just recently turned out my first batch of wine. Am practicing this art to supply my beloved with quantities to insure her enjoyment while cruising.
I won''t go into the details at this time. Just curious if others have tried this. Also have made some beer in the past that was quite tolerable.
In all repects this is a KISS project.
 
#2 ·
Would this, by any chance, be your KISS wine-making ingredients list?

2 to 3lb Any or mixed fruit.
2lb Bag of sugar.
2 Lemons or oranges.
Yeast.
Yeast nutrient.
Campden tablets.
Sterilizing powder.
Pectic enzyme.
Water.

We tasted a friend''s batch using this "keep it simple stupid" recipe and decided that our bilge wine tasted better. Let us know how yours came out.
 
#3 ·
Ha! Haven''t tried bilge water but have tried some store bought stuff that might qualify. Make the wine in a 2 litre jar that has been used for sodas etc. Used white grape juice and filled about 2" from top. 1 cup of sugar and about 1/8th tsp of yeast. Put saran wrap over top and secure with a rubber band. This will let it breath without blowing up. Room temp for about a week.Then pop in the fridge/cooler for a few days to settle. Then it is ready to drink.
Last batch my wife said was too sweet. She likes a Zinfandel type wine. So I guess next time I will cut the sugar back a bit.
You won''t challenge Napa Valley by any means but I thought it was tolerable.
Guess you could use fruit as your friend did. I was just told aboout using juice and tried it. Sounds like he used one heck of a lot of sugar.Sugar controls the alcoholic content of the wine. A friend told me he makes his with less sugar and adds it at the end of fermentation. I am still trying different things. Willing to listen so if you have any ideas feel free.
My beer turned out better I think. But then again I am a beer drinker and only occassionaly drink wine.
 
#6 ·
I used to make a lot of country wines with a variation on the recipe above plus berries or flowers (rose petal makes a nice wine) For best results they need to be kept stable during the initial period and allow sediment to settle (even more important with beer) Then they really need to be left for at least 6 months. They get better and stronger with age. But they need a fair bet of looking after to get reasonable results. I never had any luck with tins of grape juice - I wouldnt have offered it to my worst enemy, but some of the proper elderberry and rose petal wine were glorious and worth the effort. IMHO its not a boat activity but a garage/home workshop one, and with prices of reasonable drinking wine as low as they are, why bother.
 
#7 ·
Geez Guy's this thread is just too painful!

Life is too short to drink cheep wine (notice the color and clarity of this bildgewater, what an expressive nose, and such a depth in complexity and body!).

There is some pretty drinkable stuff under $10, if one takes some time to research it.

Dewey
 
#8 ·
Riunite makes a nice, what they call soft red, Lambrusco Emilia, for about $8 for a 1.5 liter bottle at Wally World. Best served chilled, and it says to refrigerate after opening. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but I enjoy this stuff.
 
#11 ·
Jerry, He said this was for his beloved! The wine needs to please, not intoxicate, at least not at first.

Why be this juice the growth of god
who dare blaspheme the twisted tendril
as a snare? we should drink it, should
we not, and if it be a curse,
well then ,who put it there?
 
#12 ·
Ahh yes, you are so right. I prefer a merlot myself but I would like to learn how to make my own. If nothing else it is a good hobby. Besides, from what I read about the "bum wines" the honeymoon would kind of short. Where did that quote you have come from anyway? I like it.

Jerry
 
#13 ·
Boat wine

Not really making wine, but this does save space on the boat. 200 years ago the wine drank onboard was brandywine. It's simple to make. Just add 1 1/2 oz. of brandy to 2 1/2 oz. of water. That way a small bottle of Brandy makes a big batch of wine. Hides cruddy tasting water. With all the great cheap fruitty Brandies available today, find your favorite and enjoy. I like the black berry brandywine. This was the soal purpose of brandy when they first started making it. Later sailors found out it was better to leave out the water. Brandy was even used to preserve things at sea. Nelsons body was loaded into a cask of brandy to preserve it on his last trip to England.
 
#15 ·
Nope. Not going to happen. Not going to drink some nasy 'orrible home made concoction be it beer or wine unless I am already very very drunk ! Last homemade wine I drank was a Damson Wine in the UK. Vile ! Same goes for home brewed beer. Undrinkable until at least two in the morning post a bottle or two of decent stuff, after that well, needs must when the devil drives.

Ssor put it perfectly. Wine is an enjoyment not merely an intoxicant. Thats why god gave us beer, rum and ahem, err, other righteous stuff mon.

ps - the verse ? Omar Khayyam ? Maybe Billy Bard of Avon but I think Omar is the one.
 
#16 ·
This is TOO funny. As someone mentioned before you can get some "decent" wines now for under $5 bottle. With the advent of two-buck-Chuck ( aka Charles Shaw ) at Trader Joes for $2.99 / bottle why bother trying to make your own. While I wouldn't say it is my favorite, it makes a decent, cheap table wine.
 
#17 ·
We used to make wine in CT and had the grapes shipped from Napa & Sonoma Valley. We were doing really well and received gold, silver, and bronze medals from the AWS at different conventions we went to. We stopped because we were getting to sophisticated and lost about 1,000 bottles. We had joined up with another couple to do this and used oak barrels and all the wine went bad; it looked and tasted like cough syrup.

We gave up doing this and now just by better wines to enjoy.

Gunnyman where are you located?
 
#18 ·
My mother used to make wine...
Here is her recepie:

in a 2 Gallon bottle add:
1 can Welch's Grape Juice
1 packet yeast
2 cups of Sugar (yeast eats sugar - produces CO2 and Alcohol)
Fill bottle with fresh water and shake to mix
Cover with deflated baloon.

Wine is ready when baloon is full. We called this Baloon Wine.

Enjoy!

(Frankly, it tasted like wine made FROM baloons)
 
#19 ·
:eek: Guys please, my stomach churns at some of these recipes!!

We make homemade wine regularly (from grapes not concentrate). This has been a family tradition since the grandparents left Europe after the War. To make half decent home made wine (and I'm being generous compared to some of the reasonably priced commercial wine), you need accesss to decent grapes, constant and cool temperatures, lots of room, no motion etc...Botttom line is you can't make wine on a boat - Period. As was said before, drinkable wine can be had for less than $10/bottle. Especially if you cruise cross border, you can get stuff duty-free -Even better. Australian, Chilean, Argentinian, South African, etc. No need to buy the commercial stuff from the US, France or Italy. Lots of other options now.

Buy the obscure wines and you will be pleasantly surprised, and no mess....:)
 
#20 ·
I guess that the baloon wine put a cork in the wine making topic...

My current favorite *cheap* wine in Hacienda Merlot - from Sonoma Valley California. It's a well balanced RED table wine, lots of fruit, and costs about $5.50/750ml - can't beat that. They also make a very good Chardonnay for about $6.50/750ml.

My in-laws (from Italy) take many of the empty bottles from our Hacienda collection, which they use to bottle their homemade wine. I've helped make the homemade wine on many occasions, and agree that it's not really feasable on a sail boat. One of the major issues, and this would affect beer making as well, is that ANY agitation of the beverage would lead to the sediment being stirred up, and cause cloudyness. (yuck!)
 
#21 ·
So I guess that settles it definitively:rolleyes: !

Bottled wine for the journey(s) it is!

Nothing like a glass (or bottle) or two at sunset to go with a Bar-B-Q at anchor in some secluded bay. :D

p.s. I might tell my kids about the balloon wine. Let them try it.....
 
#23 ·
We found a great Pinot Noir for less than five dollars a bottle and bought two cases before we set out on our six week cruise... I cannot imagine you can make it for cheaper than that and this is REALLY good wine!!!! It's called Smoking Loon..... I couldn't sail without a nice cocktail at sunset.... try it... it has kept well in the Bahamas heat and is very smooth with a fruity undertone....
Kim and Ray on NuTrix
 
#24 ·
Try Banrock, it's $3.99 a bottle, it's a Australin merlot.
 
#25 ·
mikeedmo said:
Careful with that special kool-aid... Georgetown has a nasty history when it comes to drinking cheap wine or I believe it was...
Umm... you mean Jonestown???
 
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