Wine·by·Number

I've been researching how to make wine for a couple of years now and decided the best way for me was going be purchasing a wine kit and going from there. My husband however, thought this was silly. He felt that a kit somehow involved cheating or something. Like if our wine came out really well that we had done something to falsify our first batch. Let's be honest, Leonardo da Vinci didn't use a paint-by-number kit when creating the Mona Lisa!
After visiting over 100 wineries in the past two years and speaking with dozens of winemakers about how they got their start it was clear -- if I was going to be a multi-million bottle winery I needed to get a kit to start out just like they did. So the Mr. loses the kit battle and I am prepping for my very first batch!

The friendly owner at Downtown Craft Brew helped me select the BSG Homebrew Equipment Kit along with my wineexpert juice. We typically drink more reds so Merlot was an easy choice for our first batch.

I needed a couple of more items before I started and aslo picked up a brush to clean my fermenting bucket and carboy as well as a carboy handle and a test jar. This only added about $14 in extra material the kit didn't originally include. I'll also be getting a whip, but won't need that until the degassing phase in a couple of weeks and of course bottles in about 8 weeks.
Until tomorrow, I think I'll just sit back and enjoy a glass from my favorite local winery - Amigoni Urban Winery.
Cheers!

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