# Wine Making



## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

Has anyone ever attempted to make wine from grapes here? I am going to have heaps of grapes this year!!! Any advice?


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## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

You can try investing in some proper equipment, spending hours and hours every day for weeks on end, stirring etc. then months while it ferments and settles, then the tricky job of bottling and you end up with something quite revolting and undrinkable which everyone spits out. Save yourself the trouble and buy the very reasonable boxed wine from Ficape in Figueiró dos Vinhos.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Maggy Crawford said:


> You can try investing in some proper equipment, spending hours and hours every day for weeks on end, stirring etc. then months while it ferments and settles, then the tricky job of bottling and you end up with something quite revolting and undrinkable which everyone spits out. Save yourself the trouble and buy the very reasonable boxed wine from Ficape in Figueiró dos Vinhos.


And at €5.50 per 5 litres it's helluva good value for money..........


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## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

Ha ha! But where is the fun in that? And what am I going to do with what looks like a hundred tonnes (But might be a little less than that lol) of grapes?? I was told I could probably give them to someone, but I'd still have to pick them. Might as well give it a try. Don't want to waste them, and any way, I don't have much else to do!


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Well if you need bottles, I've got about 500 + in my adega you're quite welcome to if you want to come and collect them.


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## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

travelling-man said:


> Well if you need bottles, I've got about 500 + in my adega you're quite welcome to if you want to come and collect them.


Thank you!  I probably have over a hundred in ours already, which is probably far more than I'll need.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Mattskii said:


> Thank you!  I probably have over a hundred in ours already, which is probably far more than I'll need.


Ah well....... it was worth a try! lol

I can't get rid if the damn things for love nor money!


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Mattskii said:


> I was told I could probably give them to someone, but I'd still have to pick them.


Sorry Matt, but if you're giving them away then they should pick them, with a little help from you maybe and in return for a few jars of the good stuff when they have made it.

I understand your need to do something useful with them Matt and the satisfaction of making your own wine, but as Maggie says, it can be a minefield. It only wants one fruit fly to enter the brew and it's all turned to vinegar. Good for putting on chips though!

Ever thought of getting a pig or two? They eat anything and give a better return in my book.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

FWIW, I have a deal with one of my neighbours where they look after the vines in exchange for taking the grapes (which they pick). 

As for livestock, as JohnBoy says, it's quite popular for people to keep a pig or two or alternatively ducks or chooks.


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## azoreseuropa (Nov 10, 2013)

travelling-man said:


> And at €5.50 per 5 litres it's helluva good value for money..........


And €3.99 per 5 litres in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal.  

Want to know about here in America ? Its 5 litres for $11.99 USD. Insane!!!


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## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

Minefields! lol Well, I am going to give it a try! Think positive. No one ever succeeded by not trying! 


It Couldn’t Be Done -- Edgar Albert Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.


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## weatherwatcher (Nov 27, 2011)

Sounds like something my hubbie would say, " how do you know until you try ". Well Matt We'd be interested in how you're going to do it 'cos like you we also have grapes coming out of every possible nook and cranny so keep posting.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

If you track down your local 'cooperativa' you can deliver the picked grapes there and do a deal for either payment or for a percentage back in bottled wine after they have made it. Ask at your nearest café for info on where it is and how to get help with the picking !


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## Mattskii (Oct 28, 2009)

Thanks guys!  I'm off to Agriloja tomorrow to see about getting supplies!  

He he!


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