With the "Tomato Season" almost behind us, "Vintage" or the "Wine Season" has arrived early, with what is promising to be perfect conditions for potentially great homemade wine this year, and the Home Make It team are really excited about it!
So, while some families are dismantling their tomato sauce-making factories in their garages, throwing away the empty boxes of tomatoes, some are replacing them with boxes of grapes and redesigning their garages into wineries. Other suburban households are just wine enthusiasts looking to make the best drop to share with friends and family.
Which category do you fit into? 1. You make homemade wine? 2. You would like to learn to make homemade wine? 3. You drink your family and friend's homemade wine? 4. You have to drink your family and friend's really bad homemade wine? 5. Or none of the above, but you don't mind reading about it this week?
Just like with the tomato season, the Home Make It team offer complete support for customers. This includes free wine testing at all stages of the wine making process. Our wine testing also includes the traditional method of "mouth feel". So please, we really encourage you to bring in a sample for testing, or if you are subjected year after year to your relatives or friends really bad wine, then please encourage them to bring a sample in to us. Ideally, the best time to bring your first sample of juice in for testing, is on the same day that you crush the grapes. Or you can forward this newsletter to your relatives or friends as a subtle hint :) And remember, if you want good quality wine, you need to start off with good quality grapes!
If you are looking for good quality grapes throughout Victoria, but aren't quite sure where to source them, give us a call at either our Clayton Store on 9574 8222 or Reservoir Store on 9460 2777. We are more than happy to recommend honest and quality suppliers in your area.
We also offer our customers extended trading hours during the wine season to ensure that they can be assisted when they require. Our trading hours for March and April 2013 will now be from 9.00am until 5.oopm Monday to Friday, from 9.00am until 3.oopm on Saturdays and 10.00am until 2.oopm on Sundays.
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Home Make It will be sponsoring the Darebin Homemade Food and Wine Festival again this year and are really looking forward to it. Darebin Council will be posting details soon and we will keep you up to date with details too. Some of the categories will include "best homemade wine", "best homemade beer" and "best homemade passata". We just know that some of our customers can take out some of these titles. So start thinking about entering some of your best produce into these categories. The prizes are pretty awesome too ;)
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Some very exciting news for us, is that Home Make It is included in the March/April edition of Italianicious Magazine as a feature article on homemade wine making. If you are interested in the history of Home Make It, or homemade wine techniques (traditional and modern), you can purchase this month's edition from the 11th March, 2013 at our stores or any leading newsagent.
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If you are thinking about a new hobby in homemade wine making, then why not join us at one of our Wine Making Workshops.
There is a One Day Wine Making Workshop at our Reservoir Store on the 16th March, 2013 from 10am until 3.00pm.
There is also a 6 Day Course Wine Making Workshop (held over 6 weeks) at our Reservoir Store commencing on the 8th March, 2013 from 6pm until 9pm. Whilst you won't be in time to attend the first workshop which covers the Grape Crushing process, you will be able to attend the remaining 5 workshops, and at a reduced priced. Call Pina on 9460 2777 to secure your place. Mention this email to receive a 25% discount.
If you can't get along to one of these courses, please come in store for any technical advice and information. Information sheets are also available for all varieties of wine.
To get you started, here's a great article on the different stages of winemaking and some really handy tips.
The Home Make It team had a great day last Saturday at our Sausage Making Workshop in Reservoir. If you would like to see some photos, you can check them out on our Facebook Page.
We won't be listing any new Workshops until after the wine season, but for a sneak peak at what is planned for the rest of the year, you can check out our Food and Beverage Workshop page on our website.
Don't forget we also have an on-line store for your added convenience.
For daily updates on courses, events, competitions & specials, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
I look forward to sharing more news from the Home Make It Team shortly.
Enjoy the rest of the week and lets hope that we get some cooler weather soon!
