What do you get when you take freshly pressed grape juice, pour it into a large vat in your garage, mix in bisulfites and nutrients, warm it up, and add a bunch of yeast?  
 
If you answered "liquid bread", you're wrong.  
 
If you answered "a new energy drink", you're way wrong.  
 
If you answered "homemade wine", then congratulate yourself for figuring it out before you read this far!  
 
Since OregonWines.com launched in 2002, we've provided you with our best insights into the world of wine tasting, by pairing Oregon wines with great recipes, touring local wineries, and writing about all sorts of activities and wine-related topics. Until now, a single, important, un-researched topic remained: the art of making wine.  
 
You see, a lot of hard work goes into making those succulent potables. You, as a wine enthusiast, can certainly appreciate the flavor and quality of a top-notch glass of Pinot Noir. But did you ever stop to consider how many hours, how much effort, and how much research went into producing that glass for you?  
 
If you ever wondered, well, don't feel alone. We have wondered that for a long time. Sure, we have spoken closely with many vintners over the years, seen the process in action, participated in grape harvests and celebrated new releases.  
 
But until now, none of us at OregonWines.com had decided to undertake the entire process, start to finish, from cultivating and growing the grapes, to pressing them, to fermenting and racking, and bottling the final product as wine.  
 
 
 
Well, all that changed this year, because members of our staff, myself included, decided 2004 was the year we would stop simply writing about wine, and start working with it. After all, living in the middle of wine country, writing about wine, drinking wine (almost) daily, we really don't have much of an excuse!  
 
Now, as we've come to find out, it's much easier to open the cork on a new bottle and write about the experience of drinking the wine, than it is to perfect the wine and bottle it in the first place. But that is exactly why we're doing this.  
 
To help you follow our progress, we're introducing a new section of our web site, called "The Home Vintner." In this new addition to OregonWines.com, you will be able to learn about the entire process of winemaking. We'll feature plenty of pictures of the tools, equipment, and processes, as well as lots of links to helpful web sites (and local experts) who have been providing us invaluable support. Finally, we'll be opening up a new section of our discussion forums, to help you get a better feel for this topic, and also give you a place to explore and interact with other home and professional vintners.  
 
So stay tuned in the coming days and weeks, and look for our daily postings as we now "must ferment." Sorry. Couldn't resist.  
 
David Anderson  
OregonWines.com