Rick Vanderwal wrote:

I'm not sure what I"m going to make in them....
I can't imagine yet making that much wine at one time of the same kind

I've got a batch of cider in one of my demijohns... freshly pressed for
C$0.55/litre, one can't go wrong. The other one will probably remain
empty until it's time to rack the cider.

It's because of these new acquisions that I've started to look into
pumps and such.
--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

On 10/22/03 8:24 AM, in article ,
"Rick Vanderwal" wrote:

I know I'm 2 hours from Traverse City,
and about 2 hours from Fennville, and the grape growing region down south.
I once asked if they had spare grapes (2 years ago?) and they said: NONE!
But I haven't checked since.

hey, if you ever come and visit "back home" come look me up!
Fremont, MI

Rick Vanderwal


I would look for grape growers that are not wineries, but who sells grapes
to the wineries and see if you could source a bit of fruit from them.
Wineries are generally reluctant to sell their grapes, but the other farmers
may.

Bummer, I was in your area in June. Took a 2 week trip from the tip of the
Keewenau all the way down to Warren Dunes. I spent a couple of days
winetasting in Lelenau and was very impressed. Don't know when I'll get
back, but next time I'll look you up.
--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email)

Rick Vanderwal "yeah, I guess I meant: "TONS" of grapes as a metaphor....
I just went through a manual destemming and processing of 5-6 gallons of
juice from concord grapes - took all day! But I don't have other
equipment
except the hands God gave me, and a victorio strainer I'm borrowing from a
friend at church."

Rick - I work with smaller quantities of grapes (50 to 400 pounds) from my
vineyard. Next time try crushing your grapes by foot while still on the
stems, or better yet have your wife or girl friend do it. Then destem by
rubbing the crushed grapes and stems over a 2-mesh stainless steel screen (2
holes per inch) positioned above your fermenter. This dislodges the crushed
grapes and keeps the stems out of the must. It only takes a couple of hours
to process 400 pounds of grapes and it's lots of fun.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas

"Rick Vanderwal" wrote:
yeah, I guess I meant: "TONS" of grapes as a metaphor....
I just went through a manual destemming and processing of 5-6 gallons of
juice from concord grapes - took all day! But I don't have other
equipment
except the hands God gave me, and a victorio strainer I'm borrowing from a
friend at church.

You can speed up the destemming process with a milk crate or frame with 1"
mesh chicken wire (preferably stainless steel) or a piece of 10-12" pvc pipe
with a bunch of 1" holes drilled in it. Just place the frame over a bucket,
and scrub the grape clusters across the holes. Takes about three hours to do
what takes 9 hours by hand.

You can speed up the crushing process by taking a 4"x4" post (or 12" piece
of 4x4 mounted on some sort of handle), and pounding the grapes butter-churn
style in a bucket. Takes about 1/2 hour to do a 20-gallon primary full of
grapes. The grapes try to float which makes it tricky, so you need to
periodically pour or siphon off the juice into a second bucket.