"bwesley7" > wrote in message
news:vvgNc.13365$fB4.4268@lakeread01...
> I've agreed to assist a neighbor in making wine with his grapes. He has
> a dozen vines (~5 years old), mostly muscadine but two are Norton, with
> the fruit beginning to ripen. My neighbor has absolutely no experience
with
> winemaking, and I have none in making wine from scratch with grapes -- I
> have made wine with pears, strawberries, and some other locally available
> fruits and done kits for several years. We've agreed that the neighbor
will
> harvest ripe grapes, clean and crush them by hand in a large pot, and
freeze
> in approx 5-lb bags. When he accumulates enough we'll start a batch,
using
> Jack Keller's recipe for "Simple Grape Wine.".
>
> I've got all the equipment we'll need except for a grape press. I've
> checked around my area, and haven't found any available to borrow or rent,
> and (at this time) don't wish to buy something that may be used only this
> once. I've used nylon mesh bags for pears, strawberries, etc., but doubt
> that those would withstand the pressure needed to extract the grape juice.
>
> How can we economically contain the fruit for pressing, and apply enough
> pressure to extract most of the juice?

I've "pressed" grapes by hand. It's doable in a small batch - say 5 to 10
gallons. If the grapes are red, the fermentation will do a pretty thorough
job of easing the chore by breaking down the cells. Use a coarse strainer
to separate most of the wine, then put the solids in the mesh bag and wring
it out.

This is a lot harder with white grapes, because you need to separate the
juice _before_ fermentation, but it works pretty much the same. Crush the
fruit as well as you can with your hands, popping all the berries. Pour
through a strainer to separate the liquid and wring the solids out as
thoroughly as you can. (A dose of pectic enzyme right after crushing,
followed by a cold soak overnight prior to pressing helps with this.) Be
sure to cold settle the juice thoroughly and rack it away from the heavy
goop prior to inoculation or the wine will end up somewhat coarse tasting.

Alternatively, you could rent a small press or buy one cheap on e-Bay.

Tom S