wino goes shopping

In an attempt to get my head around the actual process of winemaking, I decided to take a trip down to Vancouver and go and see the lovely people at Bosa Grape and Juice (not the best website, but the catalogue is worth looking at, and if you're interested, you can buy flash-frozen grapes from the in November.). Now, I'd never heard of this place before I took a short winemaking course in April, at which point it seemed to be the only thing anyone wanted to talk about; since then, it's been Bosa-this and Bosa-that. I was told they would have anything and everything I could possibly wish for in terms of small- to medium-scale winemaking supplies, and so I went to have a look - and lo and behold, the place was a veritable candy shop for the wine freak.

Pretty much as soon as we walked in we were met by the owner, Flori, who took us under her wing and made it her mission to teach us everything she possibly could in the whopping four-plus hours she spent with us. She was immensely informative and helpful, and literally took us around the entire store, explaining what everything was, what it does, and when to use it - and in order! That took skill, considering they had just changed locations and were only semi-unpacked in what used to be a bathroom-tile showroom; that explained the shower in the corner of the showroom. Anyway, the whole thing was rounded out by lots of conversation and a brief interruption by the owner of a new winery located very near us on the Naramata Bench, to whom I was introduced. This proved to me (because sometime I do need proof) that real winemakers do indeed shop there, not just amateurs and dorks like me.

So, the long and short of it is I got all kinds of winemaking paraphernalia - pretty much what I need to take me up to bottling - I'll have to go back for that stuff, there was only so much room in the truck! Although I did get a sulphiter (Ferrari brand, baby! Hah!) and and 82-peg bottle tree. Ah, and I forgot to mention this: I also picked up the necessary equipment for making some fruit wines, AKA country wines, and liqueurs. I'm planning on making my grandmother's recipe for lemon liqueur, and some bizarro fruit wines. Almond wine just sounds like fun, doesn't it?

But back to the story at hand: as my first experiment, I'm going to do a kit merlot (yeah, gross, I know), just so I can get the hang of the basic methodology and then work my way up from there. But at least along the way I can test the wine and learn how to do all that kinda basic stuff, as I now have a pH meter, a hydrometer, etc. No use wasting real grapes just yet. At worst, I figure I can whip up a whole lot of yummy sangira and throw a big party.