In his garage in the Holcomb Ranch neighborhood, Fred Altmann stands surrounded by stainless steel wine tanks, bottles and cases. Pointing to a metal container with 6 spouts sticking out, he tells me, “With this you can fill 6 bottles at a time..." Fred Altmann runs a construction company, Altmann Builders. How did he become a winemaker? "The reason I decided to put the grapes in is, I wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and look at Mt. Rose and see a vineyard."
But after reading some books and meeting a winemaker, he got into it. His garage became his wine cellar. No fancy machines or automation...he even puts the labels on by himself. Fred has some regrets. In the beginning, starlings ate half his grape crop in one day. Is it all worth it? "We let me say this. If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't do it. It's so much work, and I do most of it myself."
But he's learned a lot, and today the regrets melt away when he gets together and shares advice and stories with other backyard vintners…and there are more of them than ever now. They have a group now: Nevada Grape Growers and Winemakers. Backyard winemaker Stuart Michell says "We formed the organization in January and we have 10 new vineyards already scattered from Palomino Valley all the way down to Yerington."
Like any other hobby, winemaking can quietly take over your home. Fred now has over an acre, with 550 vines yielding 85 cases. 1,000 bottles a year and he doesn't sell one of them. He tells me, "When people have a foundation that does a benefit, I give it away." Stuart adds, "We're consuming it, as good winemakers should."
Anyone can grow wine grapes and make wine in Nevada without regulation, as long as they produce under 250 gallons a year and don’t sell it. Today, there are about 40 backyard wineries in Washoe County alone. Jaclyn Strominger had no intention of making wine…her house just happened to come with vines: "Honestly? I didn't want to see the grapes go to waste. And I kept thinking, we have to do something with it." She says her first red wine was awful. "Maybe it’s great for making a Sangria, I might cook with it. But our Chardonnay? It’s to die for. It is so good."
They say you'll make some expensive mistakes. Jason Schultz is a local contractor, one of the founding members of Nevada Grape Growers and Winemakers. He told me, "I probably had at least 25 vines that were in and out for about 3 years before I got it figured out."
If you want to try making wine yourself, they say go for it. Stuart Michell says "Absolutely. If I can do it, anybody can do it." Fred Altmann adds, "Yes, it would be very rewarding. And of course it’s nice to be able to have people over and say, ‘Have a glass of our wine!’"
If you’d like to start a backyard vineyard of your own, the Nevada Grape Growers and Winemakers Club can help. We have a link to their site below:
