"Andrew R" > wrote in message
...
On Dec 30, 12:29 pm, "Waterspider" > wrote:
> "Andrew R" > wrote in message
>
> ...
> On Dec 29, 7:40 pm, "Waterspider" > wrote:
>
>
>
> > I've been lurking for a while now and have decided that you guys are a
> > knowledgeable bunch when it comes to wines and winemaking.
> > So, I'd like to ask your advice about a new business my friend and I are
> > starting: a u-vin, in a small community on the BC coast (Canada). I'm
> > assuming many of you are familiar with this type of facility (if you're
> > not,
> > I'm happy to explain), so I wonder...
>
> > 1. What have you seen that you dislike in u-vin operations?
> > 2. What would you say are must-have features?
> > 3. What times of days/days a week would be most convenient for you to
> > bottle
> > a batch of wine?
> > 4. Any other suggestions or comments?
>
> > Thank you in advance for your response, and I look forward to reading
> > your
> > replies. They will be taken under the most serious consideration
> > because,
> > quite simply, we don't really have anyone else to ask. Our suppliers
> > only
> > want to sell us the most expensive equipment and our competitors have no
> > reason to want us to produce and excellent product in a great
> > environment.
>
> I went to a couple of these places in the Ottawa Ont. area ~15 years
> ago. Often beer brewing was part of the store offerings. For wine,
> they started customers from the juice/concentrate stage, bypassing the
> grape delivery/destem/pressing/chemisty stages. I made a few batches,
> where customer does the must prep and then goes away until bottling;
> the store did the racking as part of their service. Bottling day was
> fun and a few friends tagged along to help with washing/sterilizing/
> filling (& sampling!!). Sometimes the owner would let us try some
> wine from batches they made inhouse. It was an opportunity to hang
> out with other customers, swap a few bottles from different batches,
> and discuss all things wine.
> Some attributes from the store I remember: educated staff, walk-in
> cooler for fermenter storage, well laid out area for bottling with
> study, multi-level bench, big sink with pressure nozzles for bottle
> washing, sanitizer fountain, well lit, wine oriented decor, nice
> background music
> I live in Colorado now and they do not have these type stores that I
> have found. I just started doing my own wine brewing in basement
> earlier this year...but I miss the social aspects highlighted above.
> Hope this helps, and good luck with your business!
>
> The place in Ontario you describe sounds very much like what we're going
> to
> be doing. Our liquor license gives us the option of brewing beer as well,
> but we have no interest in that (neither of us like beer, and it's a far
> more expensive setup). I was surprised to learn that these licenses aren't
> available in Alberta, and Saskatchewan just approved U-vins in July. I'm
> not
> sure how common they are downstairs (USA) but would hope that they're at
> least as common as here.
>
> I'm happy to hear that the social aspect was important to you; it is to us
> as well and we're hoping to foster that with, among other things, a wine
> club. Do you remember anything about the Ottawa location that you would
> have
> changed/improved?
>
> To date, we've rented premises, applied for our license and lined up
> suppliers. We expect to have the license approved by next month and open
> on
> March 1.
The wine club sounds like an excellent idea, I do not recall this
being offered from the shops I dealt with. As far as improvements, I
would have liked to have had seminars on various aspects of making
wine, such as blending, differences in kit quality, juice chemistry,
etc. Otherwise, we had good experience in Ottawa so nothing glaring
comes to mind.
Another suggestion: Our local Denver brew supply store has the kit
vendors visit (for example, WineExpert from Vancouver area) so you can
meet with the reps. Given the home brew industry is big in Canada,
hopefully you can easily arrange this for your patrons.
By the way, there are some good beginner vidoes on YouTube you might
point your customers to, such as:
* Introduction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbEFZAeucEU
* Before You Begin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nnOqm8lhGI
* Primary Fermentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg-UOHQLcRc
* Secondary Fermentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUIkHTTRxKQ
* Fining & Stabilizing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of8C_ozEMhI
* Bottling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqQNexhKjn8
Cheers (& Happy New Year)!
Hahah, I like the guy who says wine is safer to drink than water! Thanks for
those links, they're excellent I searched YouTube a few weeks ago and didn't
find anything useful-- either way over my head or poorly explained.
Coincidentally, WineExpert is one of the suppliers we contacted, but they
refused to talk to us because they have a client in Wilson Creek (45 minute
drive on the highway, hardly in the neighbourhood).
We are setting the wine club up, for starters, with free membership and a
system of giving everyone their tenth kit free. We feel that encouraging
people to develop an interest in wine can only improve our business, so an
investment by us will pay off (at least that's the theory). Never even
thought of inviting a supplier to do a seminar-- superb idea! One of them
has offered to send us some prizes (free kits, t-shirts and the usual swag)
for a grand opening, so they might be open to it.
Cheers!