I've got 3-4 lbs of sanitized Concord grapes in my freezer. My idea
was to ameliorate the fruitiness of a merlot or a gamay must next
season. I happen to love the taste of a Concord grape but in reading
some of the older threads on this NG, I'm concerned that Concord does
not necessarily produce the best wine. Not sure what a "foxy" wine
is.

Is my enhancement idea on track or am I better off leaving well enough
alone?

Thanks, Jim

In article >, (glad heart) wrote:
>I've got 3-4 lbs of sanitized Concord grapes in my freezer. My idea
>was to ameliorate the fruitiness of a merlot or a gamay must next
>season.

*Major* mistake in my opinion. You will likely be disappointed. There are
better uses for the Concords, and better things to blend with the merlot (e.g.
Cabernet).

> I happen to love the taste of a Concord grape

Me, too -- but not wine made from them. The Concord is too high in acid, and
too low in sugar, to be well suited for winemaking. Then there's the matter of
the taste... the same acids and esters that give the Concord its distinctive
taste as a table grape (or in Welch's grape juice or jelly) don't mix well
with alcohol.

>but in reading
>some of the older threads on this NG, I'm concerned that Concord does
>not necessarily produce the best wine.

I nominate that sentence for understatement of the month.

>Not sure what a "foxy" wine is.

Buy a bottle of commercial Concord wine.

If you don't like that, don't bother making your own Concord wine.
>
>Is my enhancement idea on track or am I better off leaving well enough
>alone?
>
Ever had a grape pie? Seriously. Those "3-4 lbs" of Concord grapes will make
three delicious pies, maybe four. And that's a *much* more practical use for
them, than making wine. Save the winemaking for grapes that deserve to be made
into wine, and use the Concords for what they are best suited to: juice,
jelly, or some of the best pies you've ever had in your life. Email me
(alphageek at milmac dot com) if you want a recipe.

On 3/24/04 8:17 PM, in article
, "Doug Miller"
> wrote:

> In article >,
> (glad heart) wrote:
>> I've got 3-4 lbs of sanitized Concord grapes in my freezer. My idea
>> was to ameliorate the fruitiness of a merlot or a gamay must next
>> season.
>
> *Major* mistake in my opinion. You will likely be disappointed. There are
> better uses for the Concords, and better things to blend with the merlot (e.g.
> Cabernet).
>
>> I happen to love the taste of a Concord grape
>
> Me, too -- but not wine made from them. The Concord is too high in acid, and
> too low in sugar, to be well suited for winemaking. Then there's the matter of
> the taste... the same acids and esters that give the Concord its distinctive
> taste as a table grape (or in Welch's grape juice or jelly) don't mix well
> with alcohol.
>
>> but in reading
>> some of the older threads on this NG, I'm concerned that Concord does
>> not necessarily produce the best wine.
>
> I nominate that sentence for understatement of the month.
>
>> Not sure what a "foxy" wine is.
>
> Buy a bottle of commercial Concord wine.
>
> If you don't like that, don't bother making your own Concord wine.
>>
>> Is my enhancement idea on track or am I better off leaving well enough
>> alone?
>>
> Ever had a grape pie? Seriously. Those "3-4 lbs" of Concord grapes will make
> three delicious pies, maybe four. And that's a *much* more practical use for
> them, than making wine. Save the winemaking for grapes that deserve to be made
> into wine, and use the Concords for what they are best suited to: juice,
> jelly, or some of the best pies you've ever had in your life. Email me
> (alphageek at milmac dot com) if you want a recipe.

Hmm, perhaps I have a bit of a different opinion. Most commercial concord
grape wines are made sweet as hell - and I can imagine people would not find
them to their liking. I also thought concord would be a complete waste of
time. But last summer, I made a dry concord wine from grocery store juice. I
was quite pleased with it. It certainly is concordy - but not the foxy foxy
concord taste that I expected. It does have intense fruitiness in the
flavor. I think a judicial amount of concord grapes or juice may add a touch
of fruitiness to a wine without overpowering the base grape qualities. It's
all about how it's blended.

I would say -- it's one batch of wine -- go ahead and experiment. You don't
have to do it again if the experiment is not to your liking.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email)