Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
suggestions???

wrote:

> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
> suggestions???
>
It is possible to make wine from table grapes, but they tend not to make
the best wine. Table grapes are varieties bred for the best appearance,
and also for thin skins and seedlessness in many cases. Wine grapes on
the other hand, tend to have smaller berries, thicker skins, more
flavor, and a higher sugar content. I snacked on some Zinfandel and
Barbera grapes while making wine last fall, and they were quite tasty,
but not the thing that looked great on a fruit platter (unless your
guests were winemakers I guess).

Grapes also tend to be expensive this time of year, as they are imported
from Chile for the most part. If you want the whole grape experience of
making wine, either hold off until late summer, when varieties more
suited to making wine become readily available at reasonable cost, or
select grapes that have characteristics similar to wine grapes. If all
that is available are the usual Thompson Seedless varieties, you might
do well to mix in some juice concentrates into your must, and be ready
to add enough sugar to bring the SG of the must up to 1.095 or so.

n9ukv - Are you new at this? If so buy a white wine kit at the
homebrew/winemaking shop and follow the directions. If you have some
experience and want to make wine from grapes go to
http://www.brehmvineyards.com/. I understand they sell excellent quality
frozen grapes. You might as well buy Brehm's frozen grapes and make a good
wine instead of buying grocery store grapes. Here in the Kansas City area
grocery store table grapes are around $3.00US per pound and that's way too
expensive for the type wine you will end up with.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
> suggestions???
>

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
> suggestions???
>
A buddy and I picked up 49 1/2 gallons of juice from this place yesterday.
http://www.walkersfruitbasket.com/
It's already sulfited and adjusted to 21 Brix. They also have a nice
selection of fruit juices, with TA and pH on everything. I didn't know you
could buy fresh juices this time of year.
Ken, with a NAYY and all that jazz.

Off season wine. Two things come to mind. First - Definitely consider
making a batch of Welch's Niagara frozen concentrate. Go to Jack Keller's
site for the recipe. It is fast and good. Ready to drink at 3 months.
Don't make a real big batch as I think it is over the hill at 9 months to 1
year. A very nice fruity wine.

Then there is Mead. Always an interesting and infinitely variable off
season experiment.

Ray

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
> suggestions???
>
>

I have my first three batches of Welches sitting now, all about three
months old.

Being a beginner I failed to remember to put the campden tablets in
the last time I racked. I just did that a couple weeks ago. When I did
this rack I drank about a glass from each batch. I'll probably bottle
in another two weeks.

First Batch - 1gal with 1 can Niagara, 2lbs Strawberry steeped at
160deg then added to primary. Cote des Blanc Yeast. This wine lost
the strawberry aroma/flavor. Strong, and tastes like a white, hints of
champagne. I dont care for whites or champagne much, didnt like this
batch much. The yeast was probably a wrong choice.

Second Batch - 1gal with 1 can Concord, 2lbs Strawberry steeped at
160deg then added to primary. Lalvin 1122 Yeast. This wine is quite
aromatic and flavorful. The strawberry essence is just right, good alc
content. Would definitly make this one again. Very good as is.

Third Batch - 3gal with 3cans Niagara, 3cans Concord. This wine is
pretty damn good, quite strong and suprised me as to how fruity it
is, very grapy. With a little mellowing of the fruitiness this wine
would be even better.

I went ahead and combined batches 1 & 2 just to mellow #1 and help for
head space in secondary. Hopefully it'll turn out closer to #2 than
#1.

I am getting ready to make a new larger batch that will be a combo of
#2 and #3 leaning to just a bit more concord. And rather than all
strawberry I'll add some other fruits(blueberries, raspberries, etc.)
to help make a more complex flavor.

Welches wines are definitly worth a go for an 'off season' wine. When
fresh juices become available again I'll go that route and will try a
kit in the meantime.

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:12:05 GMT, "Ray Calvert"
> wrote:

>Off season wine. Two things come to mind. First - Definitely consider
>making a batch of Welch's Niagara frozen concentrate. Go to Jack Keller's
>site for the recipe. It is fast and good. Ready to drink at 3 months.
>Don't make a real big batch as I think it is over the hill at 9 months to 1
>year. A very nice fruity wine.
>
>Then there is Mead. Always an interesting and infinitely variable off
>season experiment.
>
>Ray
>
> wrote in message
roups.com...
>> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
>> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
>> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
>> suggestions???
>>
>>
>

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all, question for the group.... I would like to start a new batch of
> grape wine. I have read 'supermarket grapes are not wine grapes', so
> what's the best thing to do??? cans of juice?? kit wine?? Any
> suggestions???

CJJ Berry wrote a very useful book on making wine from canned fruit ("Wine
Making With Canned and Dried Fruit"), which is very useful in the off
season. I've made some quite nice peach, pineapple, and cherry wine from
canned stuff.

Cheers,